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Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga has become a fixture in NBA trade rumors, which got a little bit more intense after he uploaded an intriguing social media post over the weekend.
However, those rumors did not get additional fuel following the Warriors' 111-105 loss to the Indiana Pacers at Chase Center in San Francisco on Monday night, with Golden State head coach Steve Kerr and Stephen Curry giving Kuminga his flowers for his performance against the visitors.
“Yeah, this is the JK [Jonathan Kuminga] we want,” Kerr said of Kuminga during the postgame press conference (via 95.7 The Game). “Spent a lot of time in the paint, took care of the ball. He had a couple of really nice passes. Found Buddy [Hield] early in the game for a three on a beautiful play.
Kerr also stressed that how Kuminga performed against the Pacers was how he wanted the 22-year-old player to play.
“So this is a great example of how JK needs to play,” Kerr continued. “I'm really proud of him for coming out and playing that way. And he's getting better. And it's fun to watch his development.”
Curry echoed Kerr's sentiments about Kuminga, as the two-time Most Valuable Player gave an honest breakdown of the good things he's seeing from the third-year NBA pro of late.
“I mean, he was probably the best player out there in the sense of attacking. Being decisive, I think I talked about it after the game the other night,” Curry said.
“Anytime you're decisive and aggressive, you live with mistakes. But playing in the flow of the offense, taking what the defense gives you. So I'm getting to the pain, getting a couple extra possessions for us. He knocked down his open threes. He's getting downhill, put pressure on the rim, doing things that only he can do really on our team. So we love energetic, confident JK. He can change the game for us like he did. And stringing a couple of those games together will, hopefully, rise our level of play and give us a chance to win any given night.”
Jonathan Kuminga's future with the Warriors still uncertain
Against the Pacers, Kuminga led all scorers in the game with 26 points off the bench. He made nine of his 16 attempts from the field, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists to go with a block in 30 minutes of action.
Based on Kerr's and Curry's postgame comments on Kuminga, it seems clear that the Warriors value the youngster. Still, the Warriors could trade him before the deadline, with Kuminga set to become a restricted free agent next summer.
