The start of this season has been a turbulent one for Jonathan Kuminga. After finishing the pre-season strong and drawing effusive praise from head coach Steve Kerr, he played sparingly on opening night. Since then he essentially fell out of the rotation, playing single digit minutes in five of the next eight games. However, recently he earned more minutes. Having such an erratic role, especially as a 20 year old lottery pick, has got to be extremely difficult for a player still finding their footing in the league. Though the Warrior’s shaky start has only worsened the stability of the team’s rotation and Kerr’s willingness to play more inexperienced players, as an outsider it’s still easy to wonder other reasons for the inconsistency of Kuminga’s role. I’ll admit, I’ve long been a proponent of Kuminga even prior to draft day, but he brings things to the floor Golden State simply lacks. In this piece, I’ll take a look at the things Kuminga contributes that the Warriors need and why he could unlock a floundering second unit.
Athleticism
The Warriors lack athleticism on the floor at almost all times. When you run through the current rotation, outside of Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole there aren’t any blatant plus athletes. This deficiency has shown up this year and played a role in the team currently sporting a bottom five defensive rating and being the 6th worst rebounding group in the league. Kuminga possesses elite athleticism as a power athlete. His strength, hops, and quickness are tangible every time he steps on the floor to everyone watching. Just take a look at this jaw-dropping putback from this past week for a sense of just how much of a different class he’s in athletically.
For those that question what he brings to the table every night, this is it. It enables him to do a handful of other things at a high level.
Defense
As previously mentioned, the Warriors are struggling mightily on the defensive end, and Kuminga can give the defense a lift with more minutes. Specifically, he can make a mark on this side of the ball with his point of attack defense. Golden State’s on-ball defense has been suspect all year with Gary Payton II signing elsewhere, Klay Thompson still trying to return to his old form, Donte Divincenzo being in and out of the lineup due to a hamstring injury, and Jordan Poole not being a positive impact defender. Kuminga however, has the size and all the other tools to check the opposing team’s best perimeter player, similar to Andrew Wiggins. Kerr trusts Kuminga with POA assignments, whether than be bigger wings like Brandon Ingram or smaller, quicker guards like Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell. Kuminga leverages his impressive combination of strength and lateral movement ability to contain ball handlers. Limiting penetration has been a problem for Dubs this year, but doing so causes the defense to not have to rotate as much. Less help assignments to execute lightens the burden on the other four defenders in a sense because overall they won’t have to do as much, and thus won’t make as many mistakes or get out of position to yield easy looks to offenses. Let’s take a look at the possession below.
Before the clip begins, Kuminga sprints back on defense before setting into his assignment against Donovan Mitchell on island in isolation. Kuminga cuts off the drive, keeping Mitchell in front of him and causing a forced pass into traffic which is knocked out of bounds. Aside from stepping up in one-on-one scenarios Kuminga has made strides getting over screens to stay attached and limit advantages created from on-ball screening actions. An aspect of this play that flies under the radar is JK’s effort to run back to get between Mitchell and the hoop when he starts a significant distance behind him. His straight line speed is valuable and can help on both ends in transition, getting back on defense to stop early offense or beating his man down the floor for easy buckets on the other end.
Though there have been gripes about Kuminga’s activity and awareness defending off the ball, I’ve honestly liked what I’ve seen. Though he can work on staying locked in after making a first effort to give multiple efforts within a possession, he’s shown growth and instincts as a help defender, even covering up teammate mistakes on a few occasions. Another dimension that Kuminga can provide this Warriors team is backline defense, whether that be protecting the rim or making long closeouts to corner shooters. For a team who has struggled to contain driving ball handlers, having another player who can effectively affect rim finishes is quite valuable as seen below.
Despite any off ball hiccups, to put it bluntly, Kuminga can just handle perimeter assignments better than anyone regularly tasked with them not named Andrew Wiggins. We saw this last night as Kuminga was tasked with guarding Luka Doncic most of the night and he more than held his own, forcing Luka into tough looks and TOs while doing the best job on him of anyone on the team.
Offense
The defense hasn’t really been in question with Kuminga. What’s kept him off the floor for stretches has been his offense and lack of a role. What Kuminga can always bring to the dance is his ability to attack the rim and put pressure on defenses doing so. Though he doesn’t have an advanced handle to create advantages, he usually doesn’t need it. He’s such a dynamic athlete that often less is more, as he can just use his quick first step or sheer strength to get by or through his man to the front of the rim. Kuminga has shown the ability to utilize his strength in the post, backing down defenders for easy self-created baskets at point blank range. Opposing teams have recognized this and started to send early help when he attacks from this position. As a result, there are likely open teammates for him to move the ball to as he’s created an advantage by causing the defense to rotate -the first step to generating a good shot. Similarly, when he drives and breaks the paint, stressing the defense, he again forces rotations which can lead to easy shots for teammates. Furthermore, JK has proved capable of hitting the open man whether he’s at the top of the key, in the post, or mid drive. The passing dimension paired with his ability to pressure the rim can be the key to unlock the second unit.
Last season Kerr began giving Kuminga more autonomy as a ball handler, running effective inverted “pick n roll” actions with a shooter, usually Steph Curry, as the screener, to get Kuminga and his athleticism with a full head of steam slashing downhill. In limited minutes this year, JK has handled the ball more and made a number of nifty passes to back-cutters from the top of the key, out of the post in split action, as well as kickouts on his drives. He’s shown he can make all the passes needed within the Warriors system, plus spray the ball out to teammates to maintain the advantages he creates while attacking the rim. A big part of me insinuating that he can jumpstart the bench unit, which has clearly been the worst in the NBA thus far, is the ways his passing and creation can get Jordan Poole going. Specifically, having another player who can handle the ball and threaten the defense will allow Poole to spend more time playing off the ball. In this setting, Poole is more efficient scoring the basketball and getting to his spot, as he tends to over-dribble less frequently. Jordan Poole firing on all cylinders is the most important factor in the bench improving, and JK can help achieve this while also providing other needed things. Kuminga’s ability to drive, draw doubles or help, and make kickouts will generate clean looks for shooters. Further, Poole has played much better in the starting lineup where he has another creator alongside him, which Kuminga can provide some semblance of. Regardless of whether or not Kerr gives Kuminga more playmaking responsibilities, he will still bring elite finishing on cuts and rolls which has been on display since the minute he stepped on an NBA court.
The last couple things Kuminga has caught my eye with have been his patience and rebounding. Last season he forced things more than he has this year. While forcing slashes to the rim can be good at times, this year he has a much better sense of balancing when to attack versus pulling it out and moving the ball. Being more willing to move the ball is something that Kerr has probably tried to instill in Kuminga, and seeing the growth in his mindset will undoubtedly make Kerr more comfortable playing JK big minutes. Additionally, against the Mavericks, Kuminga ripped down some tough, contested rebounds which was a noticeable uptick of aggressiveness on the glass on his part. In the clip below we see him sky to vacuum in a rebound in traffic. Plays like this by Kuminga will provide the Warriors more possessions, and further comfort Steve Kerr in entrusting him with more minutes.
Golden State giving Kuminga a more significant role will allow them to reap the rewards of his development. From a growth standpoint, out of the Warriors three young guys (Wiseman, Moody, and Kuminga), JK was the only one who has made a clear jump in a specific area of his game: free throw shooting. Thorugh 15 games, though the volume is low he’s shooting 86.7% from the line, almost a 20% jump from his rookie year. Showing that he can make strides like this proves and generates confidence in him to further grow his game. So far this season, especially as of late, it is evident that Kuminga has the green light to shoot from downtown. Allowing him to do this while handling the ball more will only accelerate his offensive growth, increasing the chances he'll be able to cement himself higher up the pecking order as an impact rotation lock.
More Jonathan Kuminga can unlock the Warriors bench. The perimeter defense, rim pressure, finishing, and playmaking he can provide are needed additions to a dismal bench unit. The qualities he brings to the table will also make the lives of key bench players like Jordan Poole easier, which can jumpstart the second unit. Lastly, the return on investment of playing JK more is much higher than that of other forwards such as JaMychal Green or Anthony Lamb. Giving him more opportunity now will better allow him to blossom into the special, impactful player he can be while helping the Warriors reach a high ceiling as a team.
Photo via: Golden State of Mind