The last few weeks haven’t been all too kind to the Golden State Warriors, as they’ve seen some of their biggest names be sidelined with a variety of injuries. The most pertinent would be Jimmy Butler, who suffered from a torn ACL in mid-January during a match against his former team, the Miami Heat.
It wouldn’t take long for this injury to be confirmed, which spelled out a premature ending for the 36-year-old in a season in which he was averaging 20 points per game on 51.9 percent shooting from the field.
One player who was certain to fill the shoes left by Butler was Jonathan Kuminga, who was set to receive an increase in minutes after what has been quite the rocky season for the former champion, suffering from bilateral knee tendonitis earlier on in the year, while then losing his spot when he returned.
The 23-year-old would get a bigger role on the Warriors following Butler’s injury, taking to the court for 20 minutes against the Toronto Raptors, against whom he would score 20 points and secure five rebounds.
This opportunity wouldn’t just provide Kuminga with a chance to play, but a way of showing off what he can bring to a team, given that he had demanded a trade away from Golden State earlier on in the month, which doesn’t leave too much time for a deal to get done before the trade deadline closes on Feb. 5.
But it appears that these appearances are going to be frozen once again, given that the 23-year-old left a match against the Dallas Mavericks early on due to a knee injury, and according to the Warriors, he could miss some time.
On Sunday, Golden State issued a statement explaining that Kuminga had in fact suffered from a bone bruise, and will provide more information at some point soon.
“The MRI confirmed that Kuminga has a bone bruise as a result of the hyperextension injury,” the Warriors’ post reads. “His progress will be monitored and a re-evaluation date will be determined in the coming days.”
Who can fill in for Kuminga?
Given that the timetable for the 23-year-old isn’t exactly set in stone, Steve Kerr will have to look elsewhere to fill in the spare minutes, with the likes of Gui Santos, Al Horford, and Moses Moody being the ideal candidates. Among the aforementioned players, Post has received a noticeable uptick in time on the court this season, starting in 31 games thus far, 17 more than all of last season.
Golden State’s next match will come on Monday afternoon, as they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves with tip-off slated for 9:30 p.m. EST.
Newsweek