Getty Bob Myers and Joe Lacob look on during a game between the Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets.
For a team that’s mere months removed from winning an NBA championship — and one that’s reported on as much as any team in the Association — the Golden State Warriors are remarkably hard to figure this season.
As ever, Steph Curry is showing out and the Dubs’ regular starting five is running laps around the competition. There have been a couple of multi-game stretches where the team as a whole looks like it might leap back up to the upper crust of the Association, too.
At the same time, the Warriors have a losing record, their vaunted two-timeline plan is failing (in this moment anyway), the defense has been a mess and injuries are becoming an issue with Andrew Wiggins out and Steph suddenly joining him.
So, it goes without saying that team president Bob Myers and his brain trust have a lot to sort out before deciding what to do at February’s trade deadline. Regardless of how they elect to proceed, one analyst is of the opinion that the Warriors need to hang onto Jonathan Kuminga.
B/R: Kuminga Is a Keeper
Bleacher Report‘s Zach Buckley took stock of the Warriors’ 2022-23 season at the two-month mark in controversial fashion with his hot takes on the club, one of which was all about the former No. 7 overall pick. His assessment of the situation: “Kuminga is absolutely the no-brainer keeper he appeared to be.”
While Kuminga got off to a particularly rocky start this season, his last five games definitely speak to Buckley’s analysis. Since December 5, the 20-year-old is averaging 15.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 61.2% from the floor and 45.5% from deep.
Meanwhile, he has been a net positive in the plus/minus department — something not even Steph or Klay Thompson have accomplished over the same span.
As Buckley sees it, however, it’s not so much the stats as it is the way Kuminga has acquitted himself amid uncertainty that has really cemented him as a building block for the future.
“His numbers are rarely loud — in fact, most have dipped a bit from his rookie run — but his approach has been top-notch. He has embraced his role as a defense-first energizer who makes quick decisions, stays within himself and never tries to do too much.
“He might have stardom in his future, but the fact he’s starring in a support role right now has been invaluable.”
Kuminga Faced Criticism Over the Summer
Any report that Kuminga is going about things the right way has to be music to the collective ears of Dub Nation. Although Steve Kerr and others vehemently denied the assertion that his head wasn’t in the right place over the summer, those reports were definitely out there.
Most notably, it was ESPN’s Stephen A Smith who sowed the seeds of doubt about Kuminga’s drive.
“I’m worried about Kuminga. I’m hearing too many things about him off the court in terms of his head, the level of discipline that he lacks, you understand? Some of the foolishness,” Smith on an episode of First Take.
“I’m talking attitude, I’m not talking actions. I’m saying the attitude, the level of focus, commitment, determination, just putting your head down and doing the work. I’m hearing that he’s shortchanging the Warriors in that regard, and he’s got to get his act together because I’m a Jonathan Kuminga fan.”