Since returning from an ankle injury, Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga has been under the microscope. From the fans of Dub Nation to the local Bay Area media, everyone is examining whether or not Kuminga’s playstyle is cohesive to this Warriors roster with heavy championship aspirations. And six games into his reintegration process, it is visibly still a work in progress.
But if you ask Steve Kerr, it’s still early to judge Kuminga’s fit with a team that’s completely different than the one that existed before the trade deadline, as he noted on 95.7 The Game.
“I think [Kuminga’s] coming along, he played well in that first night out [versus the Sacramento Kings],” Kerr said. “I’m always of the mindset that with injured guys, the first game [back] is the easiest one. They are running on adrenaline and can’t wait to get back. It’s the next couple that seem to get guys.”
In Kuminga’s return versus Sacramento, his fit looked seamless. He glided to 18 points on seven-of-10 shooting and eye-test wise, played with ease in his redefined role off the ball. But since then, he’s had some trouble maintaining that effortlessness of the fit.
Since the Kings’ win, he’s averaging a -7 plus/minus despite averaging 13.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists a game. It’s been a polarizing stretch for Kuminga. Sometimes he looks like the second coming of Giannis Antetokounmpo barrelling down the fastbreak. Other times, he looks unsure of where he’s supposed to be in an offense that relies on ball-movement, spacing, and quick thinking.
Growing pains on a “different” Warriors team
Returning to the court hasn’t been without some frustration for the 22-year-old. In the Milwaukee Bucks’ game where he shot 2-10 from the field, he collected an indefensible flagrant foul on Gary Trent Jr. In the Atlanta Hawks loss, he got into some trash-talking with Caris Levert. And while a lot of that situation was initiated by Levert, Kuminga only played six minutes in the second half.
In that same radio interview with Willard and Dibs, Kerr explained the reality of Kuminga’s situation.
“I think the biggest thing, honestly, is we are a different team,” Kerr revealed. “We’re a completely different team now since before his injury, and it’s obviously because we have Jimmy Butler, and Jimmy is the best ISO player in the league, by analytics. So our style has shifted a little bit. We’re playing through Jimmy and Steph. We have to have spacing, and we’re doing different things now, so it’s an adjustment for JK.”
Kerr was asked a follow-up question about whether or not Butler’s on-ball style favors Kuminga’s game. While he talked about how the coaching staff is still figuring out favorable combinations, he re-emphasized the need for spacing, noting how teams like the Toronto Raptors and Memphis Grizzlies have schemed their defenses around taking advantage of the Warriors’ lack of spacing. He used the Raptors game in particular as an example of teams daring everyone besides Stephen Curry to shoot the ball from beyond the arc.
“It comes down to spacing,” Kerr said. “You got to have space on the floor to make teams pay for that kind of defense.”
Spacing the floor and where that leaves Kuminga
3-point shooting has never been Kuminga’s forte. He’s averaged 33.3% for his career but in the six games since his return, he’s shooting 14.3% on 2.3 attempts from beyond the arc. But based on Kerr’s comments, that might be a critical factor in how many minutes he gets moving forward.
There’s still a road map for Kuminga to fit in on this team, even if the 3-point shooting doesn’t improve. That Kings game is the blueprint for Kuminga’s role on this team– a high-level slasher who’s deadly on the fastbreak and plays elite defense. As Kerr states in the same interview, nothing about the Warriors’ rotation is solidified.
“We’re trying to figure out rotations. We have a lot of guys over the last couple months who are playing well,” Kerr said. “I think Gary Payton II has been one of our best players. You look at Gui Santos and the energy he’s brought. Buddy Hield is playing well. So it’s up to JK to just play as hard as he can, fit in, and let it play out.”
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