Getty Jonathan Kuminga looks to make a move in a game against the Washington Wizards.
The Golden State Warriors have reached a decision on the future of three young stars, ensuring they will continue to play a key part in the second branch of their “two-timeline” plan.
The team announced on October 31 that they picked up the fourth-year option for center James Wiseman and third-year options for wings Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga, The Athletic’s Anthony Slater reported. Monday had been the deadline for the Warriors to pick up the options, and the team gave a vote of confidence to three young players who are expected to play significant roles in the future.
Warriors Cement Status of Young Core
The Warriors have been deliberate in developing their young players. Both Kuminga and Moody spent long stretches of their rookie seasons playing for the G League Santa Cruz Warriors, and slowly made their way into head coach Steve Kerr’s rotation last season.
Wiseman suffered a season-ending injury in March of his rookie year and then saw his second NBA season wiped out as his rehab took longer than expected. The team has been careful in working him back into the rotation this year, bringing him off the bench behind starting center Kevon Looney.
Warriors have picked up James Wiseman’s fourth-year option, alongside Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody’s third-year options, per @kendra__andrews
But Golden State envisions all three moving into important roles in the future, part of what owner Joe Lacob called a “two-timeline” plan. Lacob has expressed a desire to build an immediate title contender with a young core that ensures they remain in contention for years to come, after players like Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are gone.
That plan received some pushback, with Lacob admitting that he and general manager Bob Myers felt pressure to use their pair of 2021 lottery picks to trade for an established star instead of drafting Kuminga and Moody.
“I know we — I, Bob, the organization — took some criticism that we should trade our draft choices to get one more great player,” Lacob said in May, via The Athletic’s Slater. “I was adamant about it, so was Bob, that that was not the path.”
Growing Pains for Young Warriors Players
It has not always been a smooth path to development for the three young Warriors players. Wiseman admitted that his rookie-season injury hit him hard, saying he leaned on his mother for support.
“When I first got injured, I was crying so hard I couldn’t even get to my mom’s apartment,” Wiseman told Katie Heindl of Uproxx Sports. “My mom had to carry me to her apartment. I was just crushed.”
Kuminga has also hit some struggles this season, seeing his minutes-per-game average dropping from 16.9 in his rookie season to 10.8 this year. He is scoring just 2.7 points per game on 33.3% shooting, with Moody taking over his spot in Kerr’s rotation.
Warriors veteran Andre Iguodala, who has served as a mentor to his younger teammates, said it’s a difficult situation because other teams might have the latitude to allow a player like Kuminga to play through his struggles. With the Warriors coming into a title defense season with hopes of repeating, there is no such wiggle room in the rotation, he said.
Steph Curry’s message to Jonathan Kuminga after a DNP tonight: “We’ve all been there.”
Full soundbite on Kuminga’s situation
“I think the thing for JK, Moses and even (James Wiseman) is we’re still winning championships and they’re not allowed to play through as many mistakes,” Iguodala said, via the San Francisco Chronicle’s C.J. Holmes.
But Kerr expressed optimism that Kuminga would overcome the early struggles and earn his way back into the rotation.
“It just takes time,” Kerr said. “It takes time to learn everything that’s coming at you, to develop…. As long as JK keeps working, keeps developing, things are going to work out fine for him, he’s going to get his chance, usually sooner rather than later in this league.”