{"id":128211,"date":"2025-03-12T07:30:57","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T11:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=128211"},"modified":"2025-03-12T05:48:20","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T09:48:20","slug":"warriors-coaches-tough-decisions-kumingas-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/12\/warriors-coaches-tough-decisions-kumingas-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors\u2019 Coaches Have Tough Decisions With Kuminga\u2019s Return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most recent <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kuminjo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonathan Kuminga<\/a> injury update has the Warriors\u2019 young forward returning in the Warriors\u2019 next game against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday. Kuminga has <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/24\/jonathan-kuminga-impending-return-warriors-biggest-test\/\" target=\"_self\">missed the last 31 games<\/a> with a severe ankle sprain, and the Warriors have been <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/01\/06\/warriors-jonathan-kuminga-injury-absence\/\" target=\"_self\">slow in bringing him back<\/a> from injury. Now that the date is actually set for Kuminga\u2019s return, the Warriors\u2019 coaching staff are going to have to ask some tough questions about where to fit him back into the rotation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Warriors\u2019 Coaches Have Tough Decisions With Kuminga\u2019s Return<\/h2>\n<h3><strong>A New Team Emerges During Kuminga\u2019s Injury<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kuminga was playing incredible basketball before he went down with an injury.<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask\/johnathan-kuminga-stats-last-10-games\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> He averaged<\/a> 20.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists in his last ten games before going down, and looked like he was finding his stride as the Warriors\u2019 second best scoring option.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Jonathan Kuminga is expected to return Thursday against the Kings, per sources. Kuminga will go through necessary final checkpoints, including tomorrow&#39;s practice, but current plan is for his 31-game absence to end as Warriors prep for playoff push.<a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vT4OY65AGb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/vT4OY65AGb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/anthonyVslater\/status\/1899566928412422384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A lot has happened since then. The Warriors traded for <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/butleji01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jimmy Butler<\/a>, and have started to look like one of the best teams in basketball. They have completely turned around their season, and it all happened with Kuminga on the bench. Now the Warriors\u2019 coaches are going to have to balance keeping the cohesive team winning, all while reintegrating a key piece.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Jonathan Kuminga Injury Update Means Someone Will Be Benched Soon<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kuminga has to be in the lineup. He is too good to keep on the bench, and if the Warriors are going to want to reach their highest potential, it is with Kuminga playing a key role. This means that the Warriors\u2019 coaches are going to need to find at least 25 minutes of playing time for Kuminga once he is fully healthy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Right now, and really all season, the Warriors have been piecing together their rotation. They have a lot of playable guys, and coach <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/coaches\/kerrst01c.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steve Kerr<\/a> likes to use them all. Some players however are going to need to take a reduced role, no matter how good the Warriors are playing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Who Should Lose Minutes to Kuminga?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before Kuminga went down, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/moodymo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Moses Moody<\/a> was probably the main player losing minutes to him. Moody is no longer benchable. Since Kuminga\u2019s injury, Moody has become a key piece of the Warriors\u2019 rotation. He has been starting games alongside Butler to great success. The Warriors can\u2019t afford to play him less.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Therefore, someone else is going to have to see their minutes cut. Should it be <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hieldbu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buddy Hield<\/a>? Hield has been inconsistent since his hot start, but he has been an important scoring weapon for the Warriors at times when their offense looks stagnant. Hield\u2019s ability to space the floor, regardless of whether his shot is falling has been great for the Warriors\u2019 offense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Steve Kerr on the challenge of bringing Jonathan Kuminga back into the rotation when healthy:<\/p>\n<p>&quot;The idea is to bring him along slowly. Play him in short bursts&#8230; But, we&#39;ve gotta keep playing Gui Santos. We&#39;ve gotta keep playing the guys who are helping us win right now.&quot; <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/GWmYCYxE1s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/GWmYCYxE1s<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; KNBR (@KNBR) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KNBR\/status\/1898609785580425243?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/santogu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gui Santos<\/a> is another player that could see himself riding the pine after Kuminga returns. Kerr himself said that it is going to be hard to play Santos less. Santos has provided a energetic spark through his hustle that the team feeds off of.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maybe you play <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/paytoga02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gary Payton II<\/a> less. He just had his career high of 26 points on Monday night. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/postqu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Quinten Post<\/a>? He has come alive towards the end of his rookie season. Regardless of who loses minutes, it is clear that the Warriors\u2019 coaching staff has some really tough decisions to make once Kuminga returns.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Photo credit: \u00a9 David Gonzales-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The most recent Jonathan Kuminga injury update has the Warriors\u2019 young forward returning in the Warriors\u2019 next game against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday. Kuminga has missed the last 31 games with a severe ankle sprain, and the Warriors have been slow in bringing him back from injury. Now that the date is actually set [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5284,"featured_media":128232,"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":[1608,25,62],"tags":[256,2795,49951,142,4176,49400],"class_list":["post-128211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-warriors","category-nba","tag-buddy-hield","tag-gary-payton-ii","tag-gui-santos","tag-jimmy-butler","tag-moses-moody","tag-quinten-post"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128211","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\/5284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128211"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128233,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128211\/revisions\/128233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}