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Warriors need to put Jonathan Kuminga out of his misery
Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga. David Gonzales-Imagn Images

Warriors need to put Jonathan Kuminga out of his misery

By Sai Mohan  |  Last updated Nov 28, 2024 4:11 AM ET

Jonathan Kuminga is, for the lack of a better term, becoming Golden State's garbage man. He started the first three games of the season but was then relegated to a bench role when Stephen Curry got injured. 

Head coach Steve Kerr defended the decision by stating that he needed "more spacing" on the court and that Kuminga, a non-shooter, was better off as a bench player in Curry's absence. Fair. 

Then, when Curry returned, Kuminga was still brought off the bench. But since the Warriors were rolling, nobody blinked an eye. 

On Wednesday, Curry was out with knee soreness, and Kuminga was abruptly reinserted into the starting unit after he missed the last two games with an illness.

In just his fourth start of the year, coming off an illness, Kuminga was understandably rusty. He shot 0-of-4 in the first quarter as OKC ran away with a 39-23 lead. Then, in the second, he provided a spark with 10 points and carried the form with another nine-point third quarter. 

Kuminga's aggression almost single-handedly brought the Warriors back into the game as the Thunder led 84-83 going into the fourth.

In the final quarter, Kuminga shot 0-of-4 from the field as the Warriors offense hit another snag. Kyle Anderson, off the bench, led the way with eight points, but none of the starters could make a shot.

After OKC escaped with a 105-101 win, Draymond Green acknowledged that Kuminga was instrumental in the Warriors clawing back into the game, but not before criticizing his shoddy first quarter. 

Kuminga is not a veteran plug-and-play option who can go in and out of the starting unit and produce consistently. Nope. He's a 22-year-old athlete still figuring out his game. He needs consistent playing time. He needs a longer leash. 

To make matters worse, Kerr all but confirmed that Kuminga would go back to the bench when Curry returns. 

The Warriors have just not allowed Kuminga to develop any rhythm this season. Their 12-man rotations are ideal for a team full of veteran role players — and just one star in Curry — but not for blossoming players like Kuminga or Brandin Podziemski. All they're doing is severely stunting the growth of their two best young assets. 

To Kuminga's credit, he has remained a pro's pro through the Warriors' mishandling of his talents. 

"When [they] took me out the starting five, I didn’t complain," Kuminga said, via Yahoo Sports' Michael Wagaman. "Coming in today and telling me that I'm going to be in the starting five, I was happy but that hasn't affected me at all. I still go out there and just play and be free. It’s not something that really affected me or anything like that."

Despite all the chopping and changing, Kuminga has been a net positive every time he's been on the floor. He was a +2 Wednesday and is a +2.9 for the season. The numbers prove the Warriors have no excuse for mishandling him so poorly.

The time has come for Golden State to put Kuminga out of his misery. One can't help but hark back to The Athletic's report from Jan. 2024, which quoted a source close to Kuminga as saying that he doesn't believe "Kerr will allow him to reach his full potential." 

Those words ring truer than ever. Just trade Kuminga already, Warriors. 

Sai Mohan
Muck Rack

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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