I have been assured there are other players on the Golden State Warriors and that I don’t always have to write about Jonathan Kuminga.
But I kind of do.
Because Kuminga, the ultimate wild card, can change the Warriors’ fortunes for the better — as he did in the first five games of the season — or for the worse, as he has of late.
All those terrible vibes and pointed quotes coming out of the Dubs locker room following their embarrassing drubbing at the hands of the (shorthanded) NBA champions in Oklahoma City? Sure, those were a bit meta — veterans trying to psyche themselves up — but they were also directed at the team’s young guys.
And let’s be honest, they were specifically aimed at Kuminga.
Questioning the team’s commitment to win? Bemoaning turnovers? Calling for “sacrifice”? Saying that “everyone has a personal agenda” but demanding that agenda fits the team?
Forgive me, but I don’t think Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green were being passive-aggressive about Buddy Hield or Brandin Podziemski there. (Even though both are playing poorly and Podziemski sure talked a big game going into this season.)
No, it has to be Kuminga, because whatever message he received before the season started that sparked him to downright outstanding, team-positive play in the opening weeks has disappeared.
Everyone is entitled to slumps, particularly young players, and Kuminga is in one, as he’s 3 for his last 16 from beyond the arc. But amid his shooting struggles, the dribbling has returned.
There are red flags, then there’s a crimson sky.
This is the latter. Every time the ball smacks the court and returns to his hand, an alarm should fire off in your mind.
I’m sure that’s what it sounds like in Steve Kerr’s head.
In Kuminga’s first six games of the season, he averaged 2.99 seconds and 2.2 dribbles per touch, per NBA tracking data. Those numbers were markedly down from his 3.24 seconds and 2.6 dribbles per touch last season.
You can see the rubric for success here. It went a lot deeper than “rebound, look to pass, and pay attention on defense.”
Those numbers might seem to be inconsequentially different, but you could easily see the difference in his play. Yes, he was rebounding better and looking for the pass instead of his own shot, but he was something resembling a “point-five” player — he was being decisive and selfless. That’s Warriors’ basketball.
Can you guess what’s happened since the Warriors’ win over the Clippers on Oct. 28?
Kuminga is back to his old ways: 3.3 seconds per touch on nearly three dribbles.
He has reverted, and it has been particularly glaring since Butler’s back injury chased him from the Warriors’ game with the Suns on Nov. 4.
Joke’s on me for even suggesting the early-season Kuminga would stick. Tigers don’t change their stripes.
Of course you can make the argument that Kuminga is still being decisive, but if that’s the case, then it’s in self-interest.
Hence Green’s comment Tuesday:
“I think everyone has a personal agenda in this league,” Green said. “But you have to make those personal agendas work within the team confines. If it doesn’t work, you kind of got to get rid of your agenda or eventually the agenda is the cause of someone getting rid of you.”
Curry, leader he is, tried to stand in front of it, saying that he was, in fact, Spartacus.
“I kind of fell into [the agenda issue] a little bit myself,” Curry said.
If only Curry weren’t, himself, the Warriors’ agenda.
Nice try, though, Steph.
One could argue that the Warriors should be better equipped to survive this stretch of play from Kuminga, but the fact is that they are not. Butler is ailing, Curry was sick, and Green can only give you impact on one end of the floor a game right now. Pair all that with pressing play from Podziemski and one of Hield’s infamous weeks-long lulls and you have a team that has lost six straight road games.
And of the Warriors’ eight worst two-man lineups (over 60 minutes played, total) over the last seven games, Kuminga is involved in six of them.
The other two, Green and Curry, Curry and Butler, are on the court the majority of the time with Kuminga. (All but four minutes Butler and Curry have played together featured JK on the floor with them; 81 of Green and Curry’s 94 minutes together featured Kuminga.)
The Warriors have many woes – they’re old, they’re small, and they’re not particularly careful with the ball. Some of those are fixable, most of it isn’t.
And perhaps Kuminga isn’t fixable either. He came into this season, played the game the way the Warriors wanted for a few games, built up his trade value, and decided that none of this is for him. Why sacrifice when the Kings and Suns spent all summer telling you how great you are? (Did you see him talking to Sacramento coach Doug Christie during a stoppage in play the other day?)
You can even say that this is all going well for Kuminga. He might get what he wants out of this stretch.
But so long as the Warriors employ him and are relying on him — and good or bad, that’s been the case all season — the Dubs’ potential is limited to that of the 23-year-old.
Unlimited upside, infrequently manifested.