SAN FRANCISCO — Sixty-five minutes before game time, Jonathan Kuminga stood at his locker after pregame sprints across the ground of the Warriors' practice room at Chase Center. While he was warming up, ESPN reported that the Warriors would bring him off the bench although Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins and De'Anthony Melton were unavailable.
Kuminga said he had not yet personally spoken to Steve Kerr in regards to the decision.
“It’s his decision,” Kuminga said. “I am not the coach. When Steve has made his decision, he has made his decision. I’m not the coach.”
Kuminga said he's “not upset” about coming off the bench, but that there may be growing skepticism in Kuminga's camp about Kerr's commitment to using the wing in Golden State's offense.
Just three games into the season, after Kuminga's camp and the Warriors failed to succeed in an agreement on a rookie extension, tensions are simmering between the 2 teams.
Negotiations between the Warriors and Kuminga never got off to a serious start before the rookie extension deadline. The Warriors valued the in-season flexibility that may have been lost in the event that they had prolonged Kuminga. Kuminga's camp was not adamant in regards to the maximum contract, but never received offers that they considered fair market value, in accordance with sources.
On Tuesday night, Kerr declined to announce a starting lineup in his pregame press conference. When asked directly whether Kuminga would start, he replied: “Possibly.”
Kerr then didn't need to answer questions on his starting lineup of Brandin Podziemski, Buddy Hield, Moses Moody, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis before the sport. It appears the Warriors prioritized Moody's 3-point shooting over Kuminga's downhill threat and maintained the continuity of Green and Jackson-Davis.
The decision to take Kuminga off the bench against New Orleans is a surprising decision by the coaching staff. With Curry, Wiggins and Melton each out as a result of injury, the sport changed into one by which the Warriors had to make use of Kuminga heavily on offense. He averaged 16.1 points per game last season and is arguably Golden State's most talented scorer.
However, Kuminga struggled to start out the season. In the primary three games of the season, he averaged 8.0 points and three.3 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per game. The big lineup with Kuminga as a small forward alongside two non-shooting bigs hasn't complemented his game yet, and the 12-man rotation Kerr uses has reduced his minutes.
“I never worry about such a small sample size,” Kerr said of Kuminga. “JK had a really good preseason, he will do it. 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 turns out. Of course, we played against twelve players in every game, which means it will be a little more difficult for each player to find their rhythm because they don't play as much. I'm not worried about JK at all. He’ll come over.”
Kuminga professionally answered questions at his locker before the sport, reiterating that he was not the coach and the choice was out of his hands. When asked whether he would like to start out or come off the bench, he said he was just here to play; He began 46 of 74 games last yr.
He also described the beginning to his season as “decent”.
“You’re not just going to come out of the gate and be perfect every time,” Kuminga said. “You try to figure things out, meet new people, the way we play. Different attack, different sets. So I just have to figure it out.”
The relationship between Kerr and Kuminga is a feast for the eyes. Last season, after Kerr benched Kuminga for the ultimate 18 minutes of a loss to Denver, The Athletic reported that Kuminga had “lost trust” in his coach.
Now, lower than per week into the season, the 2 have rather a lot to sort out.
“I’m used to it – this is my fourth year,” Kuminga said. “This is not the first time something like this has happened. As I said, I'm not the coach, that's his decision. We will follow his decision.”
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