{"id":173521,"date":"2026-01-20T10:40:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T15:40:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=173521"},"modified":"2026-01-20T10:40:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T15:40:48","slug":"warriors-set-to-do-a-180-on-jonathan-kuminga-after-butler-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/01\/20\/warriors-set-to-do-a-180-on-jonathan-kuminga-after-butler-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors Set To Do A 180 On Jonathan Kuminga After Butler Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 The Golden State Warriors<\/a> have kept their heads above water in the West. They own the eighth-best record. Their contention plans have hit a major obstacle. Jimmy Butler<\/a> tore his ACL on Monday evening against Miami, forcing them to reconsider their stance on Jonathan Kuminga.<\/a><\/p>\n

Warriors Set To Do A 180 On Jonathan Kuminga After Jimmy Butler Injury<\/h2>\n
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Sep 29, 2025; San Francisco, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30), forward Draymond Green (23), and forward Jimmy Butler III (10) pose for a photo during Media Day at the Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Golden State has been a mixed bag this season. Expectations centered on championship contention. The team has shown intent on defense. It owns the league\u2019s fourth-best<\/a> defense. As a result, the 12th-ranked offense trails.<\/p>\n

Stephen Curry<\/a> carries no blame. He averages 27 points, five assists, and nearly four rebounds. He shoots 47 percent from the field. He shoots 39 percent from three and 93.1 percent from the free-throw line. This is an all-time season from Curry. It may not be enough for the Warriors. On a team lacking consistent scorers, Butler\u2019s season-ending injury pushes the group to the brink.<\/p>\n

Kuminga and Kerr: A Fractured Relationship<\/h3>\n

Former lottery pick, Kuminga and Golden State engaged in a battle of wills during the offseason. That conflict spilled into the season despite Kuminga\u2019s hot start. When his performances declined, head coach Steve Kerr used his familiar method. He benched Kuminga.<\/p>\n

It started as an \u201cinjury.\u201d It later turned into DNPs for the former lottery pick. He averages just 12 points, six rebounds and over two assists in 25 minutes of action. When Kuminga became trade-eligible on Jan. 25, he submitted a trade request. That seemed like the end of the saga. Or so it appeared.<\/p>\n

A Possible Reunion After Butler\u2019s Injury<\/h3>\n

With Butler\u2019s injury, Kuminga may find a path back to the team. NBA insider Shams Charania referenced this on SportsCenter. \u201cIn some shape or form, the Warriors are back on the rollercoaster that is their saga with Jonathan Kuminga and whether they go all in again with Kuminga,\u201d he said. \u201cMy sources tell me that the relationship between him and Steve Kerr is fractured beyond repair,\u201d Charania added<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kuminga\u2019s Role in the Warriors\u2019 Next Move<\/h3>\n

There is a scenario where Kerr and Kuminga reconcile. They could make the most of a terrible situation. Butler is 36. He is the oldest player in NBA history to tear his ACL. As a result, the Warriors may throw Kuminga back into the rotation. He could emerge as the surprise future of the team.<\/p>\n

The Warriors have tried to gauge Kuminga\u2019s trade value. It is higher than it was in the summer. It has not produced offers Golden State likes though. Even if they decide to trade him, Kuminga (finally) will shape how the Warriors respond to Butler\u2019s injury.<\/p>\n

SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 The Golden State Warriors have kept their heads above water in the West. They own the eighth-best record. Their contention plans have hit a major obstacle. Jimmy Butler tore his ACL on Monday evening against Miami, forcing them to reconsider their stance on Jonathan Kuminga. Warriors Set To Do A 180 On […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":173524,"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":[62,1608,25,3,4721],"tags":[142,4297,4745],"class_list":["post-173521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-warriors","category-news","category-trade-rumors","tag-jimmy-butler","tag-jonathan-kuminga","tag-nba-injuries"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173521","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\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173521"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173523,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173521\/revisions\/173523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}