Jonathan Kuminga reportedly ‘feels like the scapegoat again’ with move to Warriors bench
To open the season, Jonathan Kuminga seemed to have found a groove with the Warriors. In the first nine games of the season, he averaged 17.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game and shot 41.4 percent from 3-point range. Coach Steve Kerr said Kuminga was the team’s fourth full-time starter.
Over his last five games, he’s down to 9.6 points and five rebounds per game, shooting 15.4 percent from beyond the arc, with almost as many turnovers (2.7) as assists (2.8). With that, Kerr moved Kuminga to the bench, but this revived old feelings stemming from a long and difficult relationship with his coach, Anthony Slater reports to ESPN.
Announcement
“He feels like the scapegoat again,” a team source said…
Kuminga, team sources said, had expressed to Kerr a desire to be coached harder. There was even a meeting about it at their Sacramento hotel before the ninth game of the season and Kerr seemed to have decided during the Kings game to call out Kuminga and confront him constructively multiple times.
But 4-1 became 6-6. Kuminga’s knees began to bother him. His defensive energy and explosion at the basket have diminished. He shot 1-for-9 at home against the Pacers, missing all five of his 3s. Coaches criticized him for perimeter shooting as the reason for his reduced minutes (season low 20).
The shadow over all of this is that, starting January 15, Kuminga will become trade eligible and the Warriors are expected to test the trade waters. Part of the point of the two-year, $46.8 million contract (with a team option the second year) was that it was very tradable. This is a case where it seems like a fresh start somewhere else would be good for Kuminga, but the Warriors won’t get much value in a trade if he’s struggling in a bench role. Kuminga has been out the last four games with knee tendinitis, and the Warriors went 2-2 during that portion of the road trip.
Announcement
At some point in the next month, Kerr will lean on Kuminga again — the Warriors could use his athleticism — but if he wants to prove to other teams that he deserves the opportunity he feels he’s not getting in Golden State, he needs to be more consistent. And stay healthy.
He has to look like the guy from the first nine games of the season.