Ever since Jonathan Kuminga returned from injury last month, he’s had trouble finding his place in the Warriors’ lineup. With the trade-deadline acquisition of Jimmy Butler III, it seems as if the young forwards minutes have been limited while he continues to figure out his role in the rotations.
Before his recovery from a sprained ankle, the 22-year-old had played in 32 games this season, averaging 16.8 points in 26.0 minutes. Now that he’s been back for a month, he’s played only 14, with averages of 12.4 points in 21.1 minutes for Golden State.
During a recent interview with Steve Kerr on 95.7 The Game’s Mark T. Willard and Dan Dibley, the coach talked about how Kuminga’s role could coexist around Butler and Draymond Green. “Every game is different and I think Jimmy’s arrival took away a lot of Jonathan’s minutes at the four.
”There’s no doubt that as soon as Jimmy arrived and we started winning, we leaned into the lineup combinations that enhanced Jimmy because we were winning and Jonathan was out for that whole stretch,” said the Warriors tactician.
Kerr’s response seem pretty clear that Jonathan will continue to have his minutes limited. “We went like 17 and 3 or something, so we’re going to keep doing what’s been winning. But the lineup with Jimmy, Jonathan and Draymond doesn’t fit real well, frankly. It just doesn’t. We need more spacing,” he said.
Despite Steve’s assessment, he continues to praise his forward’s contributions. “Jonathan’s done a great job of that. He’s working hard. He’s playing well when he’s out there. But I’m just going with the line of combinations that I think are going to give us the best chance to win,” he said, while recalling their win vs. the Lakers.
“Then there ‘s’s going to be nights where I go to Buddy [Hield] or Moses [Moody} or Gary Payton. It just changes every game based on what’s happening, and I have to read that as a coach,” the Golden State tactician explained on 95.7 last week.
