Jalen Green made waves back in April when the 5-star prospect announced he would be the first major prospect to join the NBA G League’s Select team, which will offer prospects an opportunity to make up to $500,000 by forgoing college and beginning their pro careers immediately after high school.
While that has not set off a domino effect of top players decommitting from colleges to jump at the chance to go the G League route, it has opened up an alternative pathway from college that requires players to, at the very least, seriously consider the pros and cons of both. On Wednesday, after some rumblings about this potential for some time, Adam Zagoria of Forbes and the New York Times reported Jonathan Kuminga, the top-ranked prospect in the Class of 2020 on the 247 Sports Composite Rankings after reclassifying to 2020 earlier this summer, will join Green in the G League next season and skip college.
Jonathan Kuminga — the 6-foot-8 forward from the Democratic Republic of Congo and @tps_hsbb — has decided to skip college and sign a deal in the NBA G League pro program, sources said.
He's the projected No. 4 pick in 2021, per https://t.co/FiZDmFgI0S. https://t.co/GG7WtgUUS9
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) July 16, 2020
That decision was confirmed quickly by Shams Charania of The Athletic, who had Kuminga on an Instagram Live.
Top prospect Jonathan Kuminga’s G League deal is expected to be in the $500,000 range, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Kuminga recently graduated from The Patrick high school, and now is a potential No. 1 pick in 2021. https://t.co/Wfm6uDIjgg
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 16, 2020
Kuminga is expected to be one of the top picks in the 2021 NBA Draft, as the 6’8 small forward has spectacular athleticism and skill — for an in depth look at his game, please read Brian Schroeder’s deep dive into him as a prospect.
He is set to officially make his announcement on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET, and with Kuminga on board, the Select team will have plenty of attention on it whenever the G League is able to restart next season.
