The Golden State Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga had a summer-long standoff that finally came to a conclusion with him signing a two-year deal. For some time, Kuminga believed he was worth more than what the Warriors were offering, and this may have been because of the flashes that he had shown during his time with the team.
There's nothing wrong with having confidence, and Patrick Beverley seems to be on Kuminga's side. On the Pat Bev Podcast, Beverley was asked if he believes that Kuminga is wrong to believe that he's almost 1A to Stephen Curry.
“I think you’re supposed to have that attitude,” Beverley said. “I’m 6’9 athletic. I’ve played in games, huge games, I’m dunking on mother f—–rs. My skill set, I’m getting better at the three, my handle is elite. I can play pick and roll. I can be the roller in pick and roll. I can defend your best player, I can get it off the rim and push it. I can post it. I can play off Steph Curry, h— yeah.”
Kuminga does have a unique skillset, but it's hard to believe that anybody in the organization thinks he's close to Curry as far as pecking order. Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green definitely come before him after all that they do for the team, while Kuminga is still trying to find out his role on the team.
Jonathan Kuminga still finding right fit with Warriors
Though Kuminga has a unique skillset, there are still some areas in his game that are not all the way polished. One of them is his 3-point shooting, which can hurt the Warriors in certain lineups. Last season, a lineup of Kuminga, Butler, and Green was not effective, because neither of the three demand a lot of attention on the perimeter. Head coach Steve Kerr tried the same lineup in their preseason opener, and was sort of the same thing.
“It still feels to me like if we're trying to play Jimmy-JK-Draymond, just from the other night, immediately it was the spacing was not great, and it puts pressure on our offense to really have to execute,” Kerr said after the game.
If Kerr can find the best lineups to put Kuminga in to succeed, that should help his play and the overall team's performance. The preseason will be a good way to keep finding those lineups that work.
