It’s the first rule of the NBA: Talent gets you into the league. Knowing your role keeps you in it.
Jonathan Kuminga was given a role when he returned from his months-long ankle injury: Use his prodigious athleticism to become an elite hustle player. Rebound like it’s the only way you’ll touch the ball, defend with the intensity of a hyena, and run the floor in both directions with unrelenting intent.
But Kuminga wasn’t interested in doing that.
He’d rebound for a while, then fade away. He’d defend for a while, then go back to thinking about offense. He’d push the pace for a bit, then dribble out a possession, ending it with a low-quality shot.
And so when the Warriors entered the two most important games of the year — a quasi-play-in game Sunday and an actual play-in game on Tuesday, Kuminga found himself out of the rotation.
It wasn’t a shock to anyone who was paying attention.
It doesn’t matter how high you can jump or how many points you can score if there’s no one else to score the ball that night.
All of that is just talent.
Basketball is a game that requires much more of that to be successful, to win.
A few weeks ago, I suggested that Kuminga would need to steal minutes from Gui Santos, not the other way around.
Well, Santos played Tuesday in the Warriors’ play-in game victory over the Grizzlies, providing six minutes of spark-plug, power-forward hustle.
And if we’re commenting on the minutes played in that game, Santos might have been worthy of a few more.
Kuminga, meanwhile, never saw the floor.
And in all seriousness: In a slowed-down, grind-it-out, every-possession-matters playoff game, what situation was begging for Kuminga?
He’s not a small-ball center who can help the Dubs speed up their opponent.
Despite all his talent, he’s not an elite on-ball defender who can clamp down on a perimeter threat.
And he’s certainly not someone who elevates a team defense.
In a half-court offensive game, he’s simply not a good enough shooter to play on the wing alongside either Jimmy Butler or Draymond Green.
Kuminga has so much physical talent that it’s impossible to rule out the possibility that he develops every aspect of this game. The sky is the limit for him.
But right here, right now, his craft is so undeveloped he has been deemed as useless as he was as a rookie, when he had marginal roles, at best, on a championship team.
Perhaps it speaks to the quality of the Warriors’ roster that someone like Kuminga can be idled.
Perhaps it’s an indictment on the team’s player-development program that he’s effectively no further along in his career four years into it.
The fact still remains that this isn’t a dunk contest or a one-on-one showdown. It’s five-on-five basketball, and Kuminga wasn’t deemed to affect winning in a positive way.
And, seriously, whose minutes should he have played the last two games?
Buddy Hield might share Kuminga’s negative defensive proclivities, but he spaces the floor on offense, and there are nights where he does, in fact, make 3-pointers. On nights like Tuesday, when he does not, he’s dumped from the rotation in the second half.
Brandin Podziemski had a brutal game Tuesday, but on a possession-to-possession basis, he’s prone to providing the kind of defensive energy and ball movement that the Warriors value. He is a “connector,” and in coach Steve Kerr’s book, there is simply no higher compliment.
And Kuminga isn’t taking Quinten Post or Kevon Looney’s minutes, because he plays down for his size, not up.
The only player you can make an argument for is Gary Payton II, who is not a scorer (particularly from beyond the arc). But even on Payton’s worst defensive days, he’s often giving you more than Kuminga. He certainly has more trust from the coaching staff — he was a vital member of a title-winning team, after all.
There’s no matchup the Warriors have faced — or likely will face — that demands Kuminga. Nor was Kuminga playing good enough team basketball to force Kerr’s hand in playing him.
And perhaps that’s all overly ornate analysis.
Here’s the cut-and-dry of it: Butler and Kuminga play the same position — inside-the-arc power forward. And they have shown no ability to play together.
In non-low-leverage situations where both players are available, the Warriors’ net rating is 12.45 when Butler plays and Kuminga sits.
When the two share the floor — 123 minutes — the Warriors have a net rating of minus-4.7. That’s a difference of 17 points per 100 possessions.
Add Green — another inside-the-arc player — to a lineup with Kuminga and Butler, and the Warriors’ net rating plummets to minus-24.2.
It all comes down to an undeniable fact of the modern NBA—you must have at least three shooters on the floor at all times. Four or five is preferable. (This issue will arise for the Warriors if the postseason progresses.)
Kuminga, a 30-percent 3-point shooter on three attempts per game, certainly does not qualify.
And no one in their right mind would suggest he deserves to be on the floor over Butler (nearly 40 minutes Tuesday) or Green (the odds-on-favorite to win the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award).
Yes, Kuminga has played well against the Rockets this regular season, but that doesn’t mean much now that these games have serious stakes.
“He’ll contribute,” Green said of Kuminga ahead of the Rockets series. “The challenge for him is to stay mentally engaged.”
A challenge, indeed.
Kuminga’s role in the last two games was to be a cheerleader.
But Kuminga skipped pregame introductions and arrived late to the bench before both Sunday and Tuesday’s DNP-CD games. After Sunday’s game, he took to the court and put up shots to a booming soundtrack of Congolese ndombolo music (which was an enjoyable change of pace from the normal shootaround playlist) instead of using one of the Warriors’ many practice courts, which are mostly hidden from cameras and reporters.
Did he fulfill his role, as modest as it might have been, or did he try to do his own thing?
Kuminga still hasn’t figured out the first rule of the NBA. He’ll stay seated until that changes.