{"id":111052,"date":"2024-12-07T15:14:40","date_gmt":"2024-12-07T20:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=111052"},"modified":"2024-12-07T15:14:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-07T20:14:52","slug":"warriors-jonathan-kuminga-draymond-green-swap-is-necessary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/07\/warriors-jonathan-kuminga-draymond-green-swap-is-necessary\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors\u2019 Jonathan Kuminga-Draymond Green Swap Is Necessary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Golden State Warriors\u2019 decision to bring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greendr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Draymond Green<\/a> off the bench in favor of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kuminjo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonathan Kuminga<\/a> will have its detractors.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Steve Kerr said he\u2019d like to keep Draymond Green coming off the bench in near future. He said they\u2019re trying to \u201cmaximize\u201d Jonathan Kuminga and not \u201cwear down\u201d Draymond Green. Plan is to close halves with Green at center. The Andrew Wiggins ankle injury could complicate puzzle.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/anthonyVslater\/status\/1865272866742374487?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>For some, Green provides too much in terms of his intangibles, particularly with his basketball IQ and chemistry with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryst01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephen Curry<\/a>. Those individuals may also point to Green\u2019s playmaking and ball-movement. In fact, the former second-round pick has been the team\u2019s de facto point guard for nearly a decade.<\/p>\n<p>For others, the rationale is more sentimental than tactical. Green hasn\u2019t just been along for the ride in Golden State, he\u2019s helped drive them to this height. After losing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thompkl01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Klay Thompson<\/a> to the Dallas Mavericks in the offseason, they don\u2019t want even more evidence that <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/04\/25\/steve-kerrs-mindset-as-end-of-warriors-dynasty-approaches\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">the dynasty is ending<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, there are several reasons why the Golden State is right to accept a changing of the guard.<\/p>\n<h2>Warriors\u2019 Jonathan Kuminga-Draymond Green Swap Is Necessary<\/h2>\n<p>In a vacuum, Green is a more seasoned and heady player than Kuminga. He\u2019s also a sharper two-way playmaker, helping the Warriors offense and defense run smoothly. However, Kuminga helps Golden State in a way that Green simply can\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>Numbers aside, Kuminga is a more pronounced scorer than Green. Indeed, he\u2019s one of Golden State\u2019s three players who are able to create for themselves consistently and in volume, joining Curry and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wiggian01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andrew Wiggins<\/a>. So, if the Warriors are trying to find ways to score <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/02\/stephen-curry-injury-could-be-dangerous\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">without being so reliant<\/a> on their two-time MVP, it\u2019s imperative for Kuminga to be a focal point.<\/p>\n<p>Last season, that led to Kuminga averaging 17.2 points per game as a starter, as the Warriors went 27-19. This season, he\u2019s averaging just 15.4 points per game as a starter, primarily due to a clunky start in a first unit that didn\u2019t mesh well. However, he\u2019s been averaging 21.7 points per contest as a starter in December, with Green either coming off the bench or being in street clothes in each of those games.<\/p>\n<p>This includes Kuminga scoring <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/06\/jonathan-kuminga-career-high\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a career-high 33 points<\/a> against the Houston Rockets earlier this week.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Jonathan Kuminga scores a career-high 33 PTS on 59.1 FG% to lead the <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/warriors?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@warriors<\/a> to the win over Houston! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YX7D3Y4FzV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/YX7D3Y4FzV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBA (@NBA) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA\/status\/1864909493525532741?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, in that stretch, the Curry-Kuminga duo is 0-2, losing to the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves. It\u2019s difficult to place the blame on Kuminga for those losses, as Curry went a combined 14-40 from the field. Furthermore, Wiggins only played 19 minutes against the Timberwolves due to an ankle injury.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, it\u2019s a record that the Warriors will probably key in on, particularly with reports that they\u2019re still <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/07\/lebron-warriors-trade\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">looking to land another star<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>They Need Another Change<\/h3>\n<p>Looking ahead, the Warriors will need a grace period of sorts as they adjust to their reworked starting lineup. At the end of the day, they\u2019ve replaced Thompson and Green with Wiggins and Kuminga. The best way to make everyone comfortable could be to add a low-usage facilitator and three-point threat to the first unit, which is precisely what <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/podzibr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandin Podziemski<\/a> is.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the floor balance has shifted. The calculus has changed.<\/p>\n<p>Golden State has plenty of specialists on their bench, but their starting lineup no longer causes death with 1,000 threes. They\u2019re more of a ground and pound unit. As a result, the Warriors also need <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/05\/three-teams-interest-trading-cheap-big-man\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a floor-spacing center<\/a> to be at their best. Just one that\u2019s a bit more formidable than the 6-foot-6 Green.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Golden State Warriors\u2019 decision to bring Draymond Green off the bench in favor of Jonathan Kuminga will have its detractors. Steve Kerr said he\u2019d like to keep Draymond Green coming off the bench in near future. He said they\u2019re trying to \u201cmaximize\u201d Jonathan Kuminga and not \u201cwear down\u201d Draymond Green. Plan is to close [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":111059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25,1608,62],"tags":[409,4297,48],"class_list":["post-111052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-warriors","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-draymond-green","tag-jonathan-kuminga","tag-stephen-curry"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111052"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111060,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111052\/revisions\/111060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}