Through four games in the 2024-25 season, the Warriors are 3-1. Golden State was at home on Tuesday night to face the Pelicans. For the first three games of the season, Johnathan Kuminga started at PF for the Warriors. Kuminga received a text from his head coach before the game on Tuesday letting him know he would come off the bench.
An interesting move by Stever Kerr as the Warriors were already without two key starters. Steph Curry was out with an ankle injury and Andrew Wiggins was out with a back injury. Kerr’s explanation for having Kuminga come off the bench was that he wanted more spacing with Curry and Wiggins out. He believed Kuminga could provide that spacing as a rotational player instead of a starter. We’ll see if Kerr continues to use Kuminga off the bench moving forward.
Jonathan Kuminga came off the bench for the Warriors on Tuesday night
The Warriors are moving F Jonathan Kuminga to bench tonight vs. Pelicans, sources tell me and @kendra__andrews. Intriguing development in a fourth season when no extension was complete for both sides and team has discussed setting him up to take the next step. pic.twitter.com/RxYOq3nuuj
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 30, 2024
With the 7th pick in the 2021 NBA draft, the Warriors selected Jonathan Kuminga. He took an untraditional path to the NBA by not playing in college and going right to the G League. As a rookie in 2021-22, Kuminga played in 70 games and made12 starts for Golden State. He won a championship with the Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals. The first two seasons of Kuminga’s career did not live up to the hype of being a top-10 pick.
However, Kuminga took a big step forward in year three with the Warriors. Last season, he played in 74 games and made 46 starts. He was a full-time starter for almost all of the second half of the 2023-24 season. That gave Kuminga an opportunity to develop more and he took advantage of it. Kuminga averaged a career-high (16.1) points, (4.8) rebounds, and (2.2) assists per game. His (26.3) minutes per game was also a new career-high. That’s why it was strange to see Steve Kerr bench Kuminga on Tuesday night. He’s worked his way up to being a full-time starter but his head coach felt adjustments needed to be made for that game. The Warriors are at home again on Wednesday night to face the Pelicnas. Will Kuminga come off the bench for a second-straight game?
