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Jonathan Kuminga didn't get the contract extension he wanted from the Golden State Warriors. Frustrated as Kuminga may be now that he's headed to restricted free agency next summer, though, it shouldn't be too difficult for him to turn the page as the regular season dawns. Not only is he surely relishing the opportunity to prove his incumbent team wrong across the 82-game grind, but Kuminga seems to have finally nabbed the role he's so desired ever since the Warriors made him the seventh overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft.
The fourth-year forward will be in the starting lineup on Wednesday against the Portland Trail Blazers when Golden State officially tips off 2024-25, sources told Anthony Slater of The Athletic. The near-max money he sought in an extension could be much easier to come by after the season, too, with Kuminga slated for high offesnive usage that could make him the Dubs' clear-cut secondary scorer.
“Kuminga enters this season as a key figure on a Warriors’ team with playoff aspirations. He will be in the starting lineup for Wednesday’s opener in Portland, league sources said, and there appears to be a clear path for him to be a high-volume offensive weapon, perhaps even the team’s second-leading scorer behind Steph Curry.”
Steve Kerr clarified before training camp that Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were the only players guaranteed to start for Golden State. Three other starting spots were truly up for grabs, available for the taking leading up to the regular season by as many as 10 other players on what might be the deepest roster in basketball.
In wake of an undefeated exhibition schedule that's sparked some hopeful optimism in the Bay Area, let's project the Warriors' starting five for 2024-25.
Warriors projected starters in 2024-25
- Stephen Curry
- Andrew Wiggins
- Jonathan Kuminga
- Draymond Green
- Trayce Jackson-Davis
Kerr toyed and tinkered with his starters during the preseason, affording all 12 of his viable rotation players—sorry Lindy Waters III and Gui Santos—the chance to be on the court for tipoff. Kuminga and Jackson-Davis quietly joined Curry and Green as starters for four of Golden State's six exhibition games, a reality that aligns with two important team goals stated publicly over the last month: Finding out whether Kuminga is ready for major minutes at small forward and if this team can survive without playing Green small-ball center close to full-time.
Kuminga has shown all the offensive flashes needed for Kerr and his coaching staff to give the 22-year-old a long leash operating on the wing. He shot the long ball ball more comfortably and confidently than ever off the catch and bounce during preseason action, leveraged his elite physical tools as a decisive downhill driver and, crucially, made quicker dribble-pass-shoot decisions within flow of the Warriors' halfcourt offense. Maybe his time at small forward proves brief due to that still-evolving skill set and specific team context, but Kuminga has done pretty much all he could to get an extended look playing his preferred position.
An important corollary of sliding Kuminga up the lineup is what it means for Green defensively. At 34 with more than half a decade's worth of deep playoff runs under his belt, Green is at his best on that end now wreaking havoc and cleaning up messes as an off-ball roamer—not the 6'7 rim-protector, primary stopper or even one-through-five switch defender that made the future Hall-of-Famer perhaps the greatest defender of his era.
Enter explosive sophomore big man Jackson-Davis, who supposedly grew an inch to 6'10 over the offseason and provides two-way dynamism at the five that Kevon Looney—moving far better than last season after shedding 15 pounds—just can't match. Golden State stifled opponents to a 103.2 defensive rating with Green and Jackson-Davis on the floor last season, per pbpstats.com, easily clearing the Minnesota Timberwolves' historic league-leading mark.
It's naive to assume the Dubs will come anywhere close to replicating that ridiculous defensive rating this season when Green and Jackson-Davis play together. But Golden State is also set to lean hard into the defensive identity that tandem makes available, starting Kuminga with two bigs to surround Curry with game-changing length—and allowing Green, maybe the best help defender of all-time, to start games guarding the opposition's least threatening forward.
Sacrificing playmaking and shooting for defense and athleticism?
The potentially negative tradeoff of starting Kuminga, Green and Jackson-Davis comes on the other side of the ball. As much as Kerr has emphasized defense in the preseason, this team's need for high-volume three-point shooting and ample opportunities in the open floor have been nearly as big a priority.
Can the Warriors really launch enough triples and initiate enough fast breaks without starting De'Anthony Melton or Brandin Podziemski next to Curry in the backcourt? That's where Green's position-less playmaking prowess and Kuminga's improved three-point shooting loom largest. Even the former's hopeful ability to just keep defenses honest from beyond the arc is significant there, too.
There isn't a better passer from the post than Green other than Nikola Jokic, and he ignites transition play as well as any big in basketball. He'll be tasked with more traditional playmaking duties playing with Wiggins, Kuminga and Jackson-Davis, a responsibility where his innate court sense and processing speed come in handy, like on the stampede give-and-go with Jackson-Davis below. The Dubs may even give him the chance occasional to function like a guard in staple screening actions, for better or worse.
Still, none of that will matter to this lineup's long-term viability unless Wiggins lives up to the promise he showed coaches and teammates over the offseason.
Kerr said at Media Day that Wiggins will guard opposing ball-handlers and have the chance to re-emerge as an offensive focal point this season, also encouraging him to get up at least six three-pointers per game. Expecting Wiggins to suddenly get back to the 2022 pinnacle that resulted in him outplaying Jayson Tatum with a championship on the line is asking too much. But it's perfectly plausible that an invigorated Wiggins re-asserts himself as an ace on-ball defender and reliable three-point shooter, putting his physical exploits to further use sprinting the floor in transition and attacking close-outs in the halfcourt.
Loading up on size, defense and athleticism around Curry and Green won't work unless Wiggins is an impact player. Nothing he does playing nominal shooting guard will change the perception of what he can be while sharing the floor with two smalls. Barring a disastrous start for Kuminga on the wing, don't be surprised if Wiggins' benching is the first domino to fall should this projected starting five struggle out of the gate—calling his future with Golden State into even greater question after Moses Moody's extension.
It would behoove the Warriors to let the quintet of Curry, Wiggins, Kuminga, Green and Jackson-Davis play through inevitable growing pains, though. No other lineup combination boasts its theoretical defensive versatility and scoring punch, insulating the 36-year-old Curry on both sides of the ball while giving him the best fighting chance to help the Dubs level up a rung of contention in an absolutely stacked Western Conference.
Golden State owes it to Curry to reach for its peak, especially after the front office failed to land Paul George and Lauri Markkanen this summer. Starting Wiggins, Kuminga and Jackson-Davis with he and Green represents the Warriors' best chance of not just scraping that ceiling, but maybe even breaking through it altogether.
