Jonathan Kuminga was an opening-night starter for the Golden State Warriors. By the regular-season finale, he had fallen out of the rotation entirely. Kuminga’s inconsistent performance contributed to that diminished role, but according to Steve Kerr, it mostly boiled down to fit on a changing roster that suddenly needed to emphasize Jimmy Butler.
“Every game is different, and I think Jimmy’s arrival took away a lot of Jonathan’s minutes at the four,” Kerr explained early in April. “There’s no doubt that as soon as Jimmy arrived and we started winning, we leaned into lineup combinations that enhanced Jimmy because we were winning. Jonathan was out for that whole stretch, we went like 17-3 or something, so we’re gonna keep doing what’s been winning. But the lineup with Jimmy, Jonathan and Draymond doesn’t fit real well, frankly, we need more spacing, we’ve found other lineups that have clicked, and that’s just part of the deal being in the NBA.”
When the playoffs began, Kuminga was, again, out of the rotation against the Houston Rockets. A Butler injury brought him back into the fold for Games 2 and 3, but when Butler came back for Game 4, Kuminga returned to the bench. He has not played since, and while the Warriors snuck out a Game 4 home win, they’ve now lost Games 5 and 6 and are headed back to Houston for Game 7 on Sunday. In six games, Kerr has used four different starting lineups and has not settled on a core rotation as easily as Houston has. So, with the season on the line Sunday, could Kerr give Kuminga another look?
“100% he’s on the table,” Kerr told reporters after Game 6. “You know this. We’ve kind of found a formula here in the latter part of the season. We’ve stayed with that formula to start the series. Up 3-1, things are going well. Then obviously last two games have gone very poorly. We have to assess everything. Lineup combinations, starters, all of that we have to assess. We feel like we got a great chance to go down there and win Game 7.”
Despite Kerr’s stated need for more spacing as the driver behind Kuminga’s lost minutes, he started another inconsistent shooter, Gary Payton II, alongside Butler and Draymond Green in Game 6. The idea was seemingly both to get more defense on the floor, particularly against the red-hot Fred VanVleet, and to potentially involve Alperen Sengun in more pick-and-rolls, as Payton is an excellent roller. But the Warriors lost Payton’s minutes by 12 points in a game ultimately decided by eight. Their spacing was compromised as they scored just 32 paint points.
Whether Kuminga would do any better is unclear, but he does present specific advantages that make sense in this series. He is the best athlete on the Warriors roster. Physically, the bigger Rockets have bullied Golden State all series. Payton is a better defender, but Kuminga is bigger and theoretically more impactful in the sort of rock fight the Rockets want to play. He can screen for Curry, but he can also handle the ball a bit and create some of his own shots. He’s not an adept shooter, and he’s never fit comfortably into Golden State’s read-and-react offense, but things like spacing and systems can fly out the window in Game 7. Sometimes, you just want the most talent possible on the floor, and Kuminga is certainly among the five most talented Warriors.
The Rockets have seemingly figured the Warriors out with their double-big lineup and impenetrable zone defense. They can enter Game 7 feeling as though they have at least maximized their chances with the right strategic decisions. The pressure is on Kerr to come up with some sort of adjustment to match what Houston has come up with. Whether that means Kuminga or it doesn’t, those tweaks could wind up deciding this series.
