Most 22-year-olds with over three years of NBA playing experience, have a fairly well-defined game. Jonathan Kuminga however, remains a complete and total enigma. Perhaps no other player in the league today has such split opinions from the likes of NBA insiders and fans alike. Some are convinced that Kuminga has all the makings of a future star, while others have seen enough stagnation and lack of consistency to know without a doubt that superstardom does not lie in his future.
With the Warriors off to a hot start this season, much of the scrutiny and analysis that would normally be pointed toward what appears to be a slight regression from Kuminga has been muted. It’s fairly common knowledge that there is no other team in the NBA more desperate for a second star than the Warriors. This makes it all the more puzzling that after three games, Head Coach Steve Kerr decided to remove Kuminga from the starting lineup. Through three years in the NBA, Kuminga has never been able to keep a consistent role, much of that is due to his inconsistent play. 11 games into the 2024-2025 season, not much has changed, and the up-and-down roller coaster of Kuminga rolls on.
The Curious Case of Jonathan Kuminga
What Jonathon Kuminga Has to Offer
First and foremost, Kuminga is a freak athlete. It’s typically the number one talking point of people on the pro-Kuminga side of the argument. Off Kuminga’s tantalizing athleticism alone, the fourth-year forward should hypothetically be a plus rebounder and defender. Additionally, on the offensive end, Kuminga should be able to generate easy baskets out of transition, off of rolls, and downhill drives.
Kuminga also offers a bit of offensive creation that the Warriors are really lacking outside of Steph Curry, and, to a lesser degree, Buddy Hield and Brandin Podziemski. For all Kuminga’s warts and lack of polish, he’s still one of the few players on the Warriors who can create something out of nothing on the offensive end. Kuminga is a capable post player, a passable low-volume three-point shooter, and a dynamic downhill attacker.
Kuminga checks a lot of boxes, but does he do any one thing at a high enough level to truly elevate the Warriors? That is the question that will remain on Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr’s mind as he continues to look for ways to improve Curry’s supporting cast.
What Jonathan Kuminga Has to Offer in a Trade
As previously mentioned, Kuminga remains an intriguing prospect to many NBA executives around the league. While the Warriors may not seem sold by Kuminga—as evidenced by his lack of a contract extension and Kerr’s continued hesitancy to keep Kuminga in the starting lineup—he definitely does have supporters in other front offices around the league.
If the Warriors aren’t going to commit long-term to Kuminga, they must do their due diligence in exploring what sort of return they could get for the bouncy forward. Admittedly, the Warriors already have undoubtedly looked into Kuminga’s trade market, as his name has repeatedly popped up in reported potential trades for star players. But now is the time for the Warriors to act. Kuminga remains a mystery box, which may not be a good thing for the Warriors and their playoff aspirations. But for rival teams still interested in the upside of Kuminga, it surely is. As long as Kuminga isn’t handed a 35+ minutes-per-game role, where his true struggles with ball-dominant inefficiency are on full display, then the hypothetical ‘idea’ of Kuminga lives on.
Does Kuminga, on his own, warrant the return of a star-level player? Likely not, but add in a future pick or two, along with some other quality rotational players, and the possibility of the Warriors landing a star becomes more realistic. There certainly is interest out there in Kuminga, and it’s time the Warriors take the plunge. It’s time they admit, not only to themselves but to the league as a whole, that their former seventh-overall pick just doesn’t have stardom in his future—at least not with the franchise that selected him.
The Last Word
Plenty of NBA players have righted the ship of their career later than expected. Kyle Lowry, Coby White, and Derrick White, just to name a few, all qualify as late bloomers. Nothing is damning or definitive about Kuminga that says he can’t be next in line to be a late bloomer. But the time of waiting has come and gone for the Warriors. What peak Kuminga looks like remains tantalizing, but it’s looking increasingly likely that that version of Kuminga will not appear with the Warriors. The forward has basically admitted so much himself.
At some point, things like potential and upside must be realized. It’s time the Warriors take a hard look at letting another franchise try to actualize all the potentially mesmerizing things about Kuminga. There’s no denying that Kuminga is a versatile player, but is he a jack of all trades, master of none? Four years into the Kuminga experience and the definitive answer to that question continues to evade the Warriors.
