![\"Jonathan](\"http:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ybmedia\/image\/upload\/c_crop,h_675,w_1200,x_0,y_0\/c_fill,f_auto,h_900,q_auto,w_1600\/v1\/m\/7\/0\/709c5412f8be4ea33c963bf1e94f1053a34f350d\/Jonathan-Kuminga-faces-harsh-Warriors-reality-in-contract-season.jpg\")
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A flaming hot Lindy Waters III sent the Golden State Warriors to dramatic victory on Saturday in Honolulu, his buzzer-beating triple yielding a\u00a091-90 win\u00a0over the Los Angeles Clippers. Waters\u2019 trey marked his fifth three-pointer across just 15 minutes of action, helping mask the new-look Dubs\u2019 putrid performance from beyond the arc in their exhibition opener.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s only so much to take away from\u00a0any<\/em>\u00a0preseason basketball, let alone a game in which Steve Kerr didn\u2019t play Stephen Curry and Draymond Green after halftime and went a full 19 players deep into his bench.\u00a0Klay Thompson is long gone, though, and Buddy Hield isn\u2019t equipped to fill his shoes as the Warriors\u2019 second Splash Brother while vying for minutes toward the bottom of an overflowing rotation.<\/p>\n An even bigger problem for Golden State as tipoff of the regular season fast approaches? The Warriors\u2019 ideal and preferred lineup combinations stand to exacerbate their lack of consistent firepower from three-point range, a distressing reality laid bare as Jonathan Kuminga joined Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis on the floor for tipoff Saturday in Hawaii.<\/p>\n Before the game, Kerr\u2014long hesitant if not outright dead set against deploying Kuminga next to a pair of bigs\u2014explained that starting his team\u2019s budding star at small forward was more\u00a0preseason exploration than a true harbinger for the 82-game grind and beyond.<\/p>\n \u201cWe gotta see. Last year we didn\u2019t feel comfortable going that route,\u201d Kerr said of Kuminga playing the three, per Anthony Slater of\u00a0The Athletic<\/em>. \u201cWe would love to play Draymond at the 4, Trayce gives us a shot-blocker next to him and we wanna play JK. If he\u2019s ready for the three and it works with those guy then we\u2019ll see, and if not we\u2019ll adapt. But now\u2019s the time to try these things and see which combinations work and which ones don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Kuminga finished with seven points and seven rebounds on 3-of-6 shooting in 19 minutes against the Clippers, joining his veteran teammates on the bench for good after playing the opening stint of the second half. He also clanked both of his tries from deep and didn\u2019t look especially comfortable navigating the Dubs\u2019 halfcourt offense, mostly functioning as playmaker rather than finisher\u2014the role he so badly wants but has never played in the NBA before.<\/p>\n Golden State has no delusions of competing for a title as currently constructed. There\u2019s time for the Dubs to play through inevitable growing pains of fostering Kuminga\u2019s development on the wing.<\/p>\n At Media Day, Curry even publicly alluded to the possibility of the Warriors making a major win-now move leading up to the February 6th trade deadline. A star turn for Kuminga before then while playing the three, obviously, would go a long way toward clarifying both his future in Golden State and making him a worthy centerpiece of the potential blockbuster trade this team needs to truly level up in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n But basketball isn\u2019t played in a vacuum. Team context is always crucial while assessing individual players, and Golden State lacks the interior personnel that would make Kuminga\u2019s acclimation to small forward smoother.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t be fooled by Green\u2019s quiet career-best of 39.5% shooting from deep last season; defenses still won\u2019t defend him like a floor-spacer. Jackson-Davis\u2019 horizontal range is capped at a few feet from the rim. It\u2019s shrewd of Kevon Looney to spend his summer\u00a0jacking up 500 threes\u00a0a day, but the next time he truly stretches an NBA defense will be the first. Even playing small with Kyle Anderson at nominal center wouldn\u2019t create the halfcourt spacing pretty much all NBA offenses prioritize in the modern era.<\/p>\n Kuminga still has a long way to go as a shooter, playmaker and overall processor before staking his claim at the three. The environment he\u2019ll play in with the Warriors this season\u2014and not just with regard to the interior\u2014will only make those necessary strides harder to come by.<\/p>\n Kerr has made clear only two starting spots are set in stone ahead of the Dubs\u2019 October 23rd season-opener.\u00a0Curry and Green will start\u00a0against the Portland Trail Blazers, but three slots in Golden State\u2019s starting five are apparently available for the taking.<\/p>\n De\u2019Anthony Melton opened next to Curry in the backcourt on Saturday, relegating Brandin Podziemski\u2014the Dubs\u2019 other prized young prospect, along with Kuminga\u2014to the bench. Andrew Wiggins, don\u2019t forget, remained sidelined with an illness.<\/p>\n Golden State\u2019s starters were outscored 17-12 in the first seven minutes against the short-handed Clippers, never seeing the floor again. They shot 4-of-14 overall and 1-of-7 from deep, looking disjointed offensively while failing to make Los Angeles feel them on the other side of the ball.<\/p>\n \u201cNot great, not great,\u201d Kerr said after the game of how the\u00a0Dubs\u2019 starting unit played, per KNBR. \u201cBut it\u2019s preseason for everybody, so we didn\u2019t have really good rhythm coming out. Slow start. But still good to get those five guys on the floor and see what that looked like.\u201d<\/p>\n No one would be surprised if Podziemski ultimately began the regular season starting next to Curry in the backcourt. While Golden State seems more inclined this season than in recent years to play Green with another big, he\u2019ll still log plenty of time at small-ball five whether starting there or otherwise.<\/p>\n What was the Warriors\u2019 main departure from expected norms in the exhibition debut, then? Shoving Kuminga into the starting five at small forward, a choice undoubtedly made with Wiggins\u2019 absence in mind.<\/p>\n Both Kerr and Wiggins spoke at Media Day of the latter\u2019s usage increasing this season, affording him the opportunity to emerge as the Dubs\u2019 full-fledged\u00a0No. 2 offensive option. Coupled with his bonafides as a solid-at-worst on-ball defender, Wiggins certainly appears set to join Curry and Green as an everyday starter in 2024-25.<\/p>\n Where that likelihood leaves Kuminga\u2014the avatar of this organization\u2019s obvious best bet at maximizing Curry\u2019s extended prime\u2014will be a typically hot-button matter not just leading up to the opener, but also the trade deadline and potentially into restricted free agency next summer.<\/p>\n Starting Jackson-Davis next to Green up front alongside Curry and Wiggins will almost surely force Kuminga to the bench. Maybe Wiggins really does enjoy a bounce-back year as the Dubs\u2019 secondary scorer, but even that optimistic outcome wouldn\u2019t make him a natural creator for others or knockdown three-point shooter\u2014basic prerequisites for Curry\u2019s partner in the backcourt, especially if the Dubs open with two non-spacers on the interior.<\/p>\n Melton and Podziemski, obviously, are much better suited than Wiggins to start next to Curry in the backcourt. With Green locked in at tipoff and Wiggins projected as this team\u2019s No. 2 scorer, it\u2019s safe to say Kuminga is essentially battling with Jackson-Davis to emerge as Golden State\u2019s fifth and final starter.<\/p>\n That stylistic dissonance\u2014small with Kuminga, big with Jackson-Davis\u2014would ideally be one the Warriors avoid while deciding on their starting five. Identity and continuity loom extremely large in the NBA, and Golden State\u2019s inability to manage either last season while juggling suspensions, injuries and an over-crowded roster was its primary undoing. Toggling Kuminga between both forward spots if he\u2019s not ready to play the three could spark similar instability.<\/p>\n Either way, the Warriors will only set themselves up to climb the ladder of Western Conference contenders come spring if Kuminga makes a major impact in the season\u2019s early going. He\u2019s always believed he\u2019s a small forward, and remains years away from his playing peak at just 22 years old. But given existing limitations of his own game coupled with ingrained ones of Green\u2019s, Kuminga\u2019s only plausible path to beginning this season is as a small-ball four.<\/p>\n Maybe more likely? He becomes entrenched at sixth man while the Dubs start big with Jackson-Davis up front, rightly or wrongly calling Kuminga\u2019s assumed status as franchise building block and transformational trade chip into greater question almost no matter how well he plays in that role.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A flaming hot Lindy Waters III sent the Golden State Warriors to dramatic victory on Saturday in Honolulu, his buzzer-beating triple yielding a\u00a091-90 win\u00a0over the Los Angeles… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nJonathan Kuminga\u2019s obstacles to small forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n![](\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Warriors-Jonathan-Kuminga-chases-loose-ball-vs.-Jazz.jpg\")
<\/center><\/p>\nGolden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga (00) chases down a loose ball during the third quarter against the Utah Jazz at Chase Center\u00a0D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe backcourt equation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n![](\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Warriors-Brandin-Podziemski-dribbles-vs.-Spurs.jpg\")
<\/center><\/p>\nGolden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski (2) dribbles up the court in the first half against the San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWarriors\u2019 sixth man?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n![](\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/USATSI_21755241-1.jpg\")
<\/center><\/p>\nGolden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr (right) talks to forward Jonathan Kuminga (00) during the third quarter against the San Antonio Spurs at Chase Center. Kyle Terada-Imagn Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n