After playing zero minutes in the Golden State Warriors' 95-85 win over the Houston Rockets in Game 1, it's pretty clear that Jonathan Kuminga is out of Steve Kerr's playoff rotation until further notice.

With rumors about the Brooklyn Nets eying Kuminga in his restricted free agency and the Dub Nation split in half about Kerr's decision, it's been another tumultuous chapter in the ongoing Kuminga-Warriors saga.

But despite the confusion, Kuminga's moral and attitude haven't dipped according to Kerr. In an interview with 95.7 The Game, Kerr praised Kuminga for how he's handled being cut from the rotation.

“Jonathan [Kuminga] has been fantastic. His attitude, his energy on the bench, cheering guys on, staying ready. He's a great, great young guy,” Kerr said. “This has been tough on him, but he's doing exactly what he should be doing, which is staying ready.”

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Kuminga's professionalism is an encouraging sign for the Warriors. It's early in the series; there is still a road map for Kuminga to see the floor. He provides the Warriors with two potential needs: size and slashing. The Rockets bogged down the Warriors with their physical and athletic advantage. They bruised the Dubs for 22 offensive rebounds and walled off the paint for anyone not named Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler.

In a vacuum, Kuminga's elite athleticism could help the Warriors solve both of those problems. He can match anyone on the Rockets athletically while also giving the Warriors a deadly cutter who can finish in traffic. And defensively, he can give the Dubs another point-of-attack defender to irritate the Rockets' perimeter players.

That's the high upside of Kuminga. There's still a reason why he fell out of the rotation to begin with. His fit next to Butler and Draymond Green was a negative, and his rebounding has been inconsistent. Regardless, Kuminga is the Warriors' ace in their back pocket, and Kerr is expecting to play that card at some point, as he stated in the same interview.

“I've told him, and our coaches have told him, things can change in a heartbeat in the NBA,” Kerr said. “He's got to just be ready for when his time comes, and that's exactly what he's doing. I would be surprised if, at some point, his time doesn't come. When you're in a good groove, you just keep doing what you're doing and then you adjust as you go.”