SAN FRANCISCO — Sixty-five minutes before tipoff, Jonathan Kuminga stood at his locker after running pregame sprints on the floor of the Warriors’ practice room at Chase Center. As he warmed up, ESPN reported that the Warriors were bringing him off the bench even though Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins and De’Anthony Melton were unavailable.
Kuminga said he has yet to speak face to face with Steve Kerr about the decision.
“It’s his decision,” Kuminga said. “I’m not the coach. If Steve has made his decision, he has made his decision. I’m not the coach.
Kuminga said he was “not tripping” about coming off the bench, but there was growing skepticism within the Kuminga camp over Kerr’s commitment to including the winger in the squad. Golden State offense.
Just three games into the season, after Kuminga’s camp and the Warriors failed to reach an agreement on a rookie extension, tensions are boiling between the two sides.
Negotiations never really progressed between the Warriors and Kuminga before the rookie extension deadline. The Warriors valued the in-season flexibility that would have disappeared if they had extended Kuminga. Kuminga’s camp was not uncompromising on the maximum contract, but never received offers it considered market value, according to sources.
On Tuesday night, Kerr declined to announce his starting lineup during his pregame press conference. When asked directly if Kuminga would start, he replied: “Maybe.”
Kerr then didn’t have to answer pregame questions about his starting lineup of Brandin Podziemski, Buddy Hield, Moses Moody, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis. It appears the Warriors have prioritized Moody’s 3-point shooting over Kuminga’s downhill threat, while keeping Green and Jackson-Davis’ continuity together.
Choosing to bring Kuminga off the bench against New Orleans was a surprising decision on the part of the coaching staff. With Curry, Wiggins and Melton each ruled out due to injuries, the matchup formed one in which the Warriors should feature Kuminga heavily on offense. He averaged 16.1 points per game last season and is arguably Golden State’s most naturally gifted scorer.
Kuminga, however, struggled to start the season. Through the first three games of the season, he is averaging 8.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per game. The big lineup with Kuminga playing small forward next to two non-shooting bigs hasn’t completed his game yet, and the 12-man rotation Kerr uses has reduced his minutes.
“I never worry about a small sample size like that,” Kerr said of Kuminga. “JK had a very good pre-season, he will come back. We’re going to need his strength, his athleticism. Tonight could be a big night for him in that regard, depending on how the game goes. We obviously played 12 people every game, which means it’s going to be a little harder for guys individually to find their rhythm because they’re not playing as much. I’m not worried about JK at all. He will come back.
Kuminga answered questions professionally in his locker before the match, repeating that he was not the coach and the decision was not his. He said he was just there to play when asked if he had a preference between starting or coming off the bench. ; he started 46 of the 74 games played last year.
He also called the start of his season “decent.”
“You’re not just going to come out and be perfect every time,” Kuminga said. “You try to figure things out, you try to discover new people, depending on how we play. Different offense, different sets. So, I just have to figure it out.
The relationship between Kerr and Kuminga is one to watch. Last season, after Kerr benched Kuminga for the final 18 minutes of a loss to Denver, The Athletic reported that Kuminga “lost confidence” in his coach.
Today, less than a week after the start of the season, the two men must sort things out.
“I’m used to it – this is my fourth year,” Kuminga said. “This is not the first time things like this have happened. Like I said, I’m not the coach, it’s his decision. We will follow his decision.
