The Golden State Warriors have been unfortunate on the injury front to begin the 2024-25 season. After winning their first two games in historic fashion, the Warriors saw Stephen Curry twist his ankle twice in the span of around 10 minutes, necessitating a multigame absence.
But thus far, even with Curry out, the Warriors swept a back-to-back set against the New Orleans Pelicans — buying valuable recovery time for Curry (and Andrew Wiggins).
With Curry and Wiggins nursing injuries, it was expected that Jonathan Kuminga would be taking on a larger offensive role. Instead, head coach Steve Kerr decided to demote Kuminga to a bench role, relying instead on do-it-all guard Brandin Podziemski as well as snipers such as Buddy Hield, Moses Moody, and Lindy Waters III.
Last season, Kuminga did indeed cause a bit of fuss as he grew frustrated over the lack of growth in his role for the Warriors over his first three seasons in the NBA. Thus, there were loud rumblings once again when Kerr decided to bench Kuminga. But Draymond Green is pleading for fans to understand why the Dubs decided that this was for the best amid Curry's injury.
“Before the first Pelicans game, it was announced that Kuminga was benched, and it was a complete overreaction. The lineup change was because Steph wasn’t out there, so we needed more shooting, more spacing,” Green explained in the most recent episode of his eponymous podcast.
Kuminga may have made plenty of strides as a shooter last season, but this year, his long-range shots have not fallen quite yet. On the season, he is 2-for-13 from deep, and starting him in a lineup with both Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis is a recipe for disaster.
“Instead of JK, we added Moses and Buddy to spread the floor. If not, they were just going to zone us, clog the paint, and make it hard for everyone. That’s not a knock on JK; if anything, it’s probably a knock on me and Trayce,” Green added.
It's safe to say that Kerr's gambit is working for the Warriors, and he has proven once again why he's won a championship multiple times as a head coach.
Jonathan Kuminga responds well to Warriors benching
It must be tough for Jonathan Kuminga to see his hard-earned place in the starting lineup be threatened once again by circumstances beyond his control. But Kuminga is showing great maturity by staying the course and even playing much better in a bench role than he did as a starter.
Kuminga can put up buckets, and he's improved as a shooter as well, but this is not the strong suit of his game. Asking the Warriors' offense to survive with Kuminga, Draymond Green, and Trayce Jackson-Davis on the floor at the same time may be too much, even for the player with the greatest gravitational pull in history, Stephen Curry.
But now that he can operate as the focal point of the bench unit in a lineup with more space, he is thriving — and so are the Warriors.
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