CHICAGO — The water was rising for weeks, and the dam finally broke on Sunday night in Chicago: Warriors head coach Steve Kerr pulled Jonathan Kuminga from the rotation.
It was the first time a healthy Kuminga didn’t log a minute this season, but a flashback to late last season, when Golden State was rolling after the Jimmy Butler trade and phased the young wing out of the lineup.
In the immediate term, the move worked. Golden State’s ball movement was sensational in a 38-point first quarter and the Warriors cruised to a blowout, 123-91 win over the Bulls. “Starting to feel like the team we’re supposed to be,” Kerr said postgame. The Warriors improved to 13-12 and head home for a light pocket of their schedule in which they play just two games in 10 days.
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But with any Kuminga-related subject, things aren’t always so simple. There are five years of scar tissue, of personal ambition clashing with what the team expects of him. There’s this past summer of tumultuous restricted free agency negotiations that concluded with a contract worth $22.5 million this year that becomes eminently tradeable starting Jan. 15. There are factions of the organization that believe in Kuminga’s star potential, and others that are more skeptical of how his talent translates.
For his part, Kuminga appears to be handling the benching well. He looked engaged on the bench during the win over Chicago and reiterated to reporters that he intends to be ready whenever Kerr calls his number next. He also insisted that he has a strong relationship with his head coach.
“At the end of the day, I just got to be a professional,” Kuminga said. “Because things happen, it’s happened before, it’s happening now.”
Things have been trending this way for some weeks now. Kerr has often referenced assistant coach Ron Adams’ saying — “It’s a show-me league” — and Kuminga has shown struggles since before bilateral knee tendonitis sidelined him for seven games in November.
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Kuminga had a rip-roaring start to the season. He played with as much energy and intensity as he ever has through the first five games, teasing that this summer’s drama might just turn out to be mutually beneficial. He did everything the Warriors have wanted him to do for years: defend with intensity, crash the glass on both ends, sprint up and down the floor.
Since then, though, old habits reemerged. He started holding onto the ball longer and taking more midrange jump shots (he ranks in the 82nd percentile in midrange frequency but 34th in accuracy, a carryover from last season). His turnovers spiked and rebounding dipped. His activity in transition lagged; “I want him to be the first down the floor, not the last,” Kerr said.
Take a look at Kuminga’s splits from the first five games compared to his next 12.
First 5 games: 16.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.4 TOV per game. +25 total plus-minus. 53.7% shooting from the field and 43.8% from deep. 10.9 FGA. 30.2 mpg.
Next 12 games: 10.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.6 TOV per game. -74 total plus-minus. 39.3% shooting and 26.5% from deep. 10.2 FGA. 23.9 mpg.
Kerr benched Kuminga for the fourth quarter of Golden State’s loss to Philadelphia, and again in to close out the team’s win in Cleveland. Then he pulled the plug entirely.
The coaching staff has tried just about everything with Kuminga, both throughout his career and this year. They’ve mirrored his minutes with Steph Curry, started him, had him come off the bench, made him a focal point of second units, and taken the ball out of his hands.
For the moment, their next ploy is to move forward without him.
“Just got to keep going,” Kerr said when asked how he hopes Kuminga processes the DNP. “Just like everyone else who’s in this position. It happens to everyone, pretty much, other than the stars. Guys come in and out of the rotation depending on who’s available, how the team’s playing.”
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Steve Kerr used 11 different players in the Warriors’ rout of the Bulls on Sunday. |Source: David Banks/Associated Press
A path back to the rotation is murky for Kuminga. Pat Spencer has emerged as a legitimate backup point guard option. De’Anthony Melton has returned to steal minutes in the backcourt. Gui Santos’ energy is valuable. Buddy Hield is showing signs of rebounding from his early-season struggles, as is Brandin Podziemski. Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Al Horford are poised to return from injuries on Friday, which will knock even more players down a peg or two.
That doesn’t mean Kuminga is interminably out of the fold. The 36-year-old Butler is bound to miss more games at some point, and Kuminga is a plug-and-play option at his position. The team looks good now with this rotation, but that can always flip.
In the past, Kuminga has bounced back well from situations like this. He was benched in the highest-profile games of last season, but returned to the lineup after Curry’s playoff injury to score 30, 23, and 26 points in the Western Conference Semifinals.
He has that experience, and a myriad of others, to draw from now.
“No matter the time or circumstance, I just got to be ready to go out there and be impactful,” Kuminga said.