Kuminga and Moody drop insane stat in Summer League debut

Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody made their official Summer League debuts on Monday against the Orlando Magic, having donned the Warriors’ uniform for the first time in the second of the team’s California Classic games last week.

The Warriors eventually went down to the Magic in overtime, having led for the majority of the second half and by as much as 12 points during the third quarter.

Golden State Warriors draftees Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody continue to impress in their first fortnight as part of the Warriors franchise.

But for the majority of NBA teams throughout the Summer League, the priority is evaluating the development of players rather than the win-loss record, particularly for teams like the Warriors with highly credentialed draftees.

Kuminga and Moody were more than solid for the Warriors, leading the team in scoring with 16 and 15 points respectively (Kyle Guy also had 15 points). Perhaps even more positively, Kuminga had just one turnover after recording six against the Heat last week.

If you were to look over the remainder of the pair’s box score, nothing necessarily jumps off the page until the very end. Incredibly, despite the Warriors losing the game by two points, Kuminga and Moody recorded plus-minus differentials of +15 and +19 respectively.

In fact, of nine players to play more than 20 minutes in the game, Kuminga and Moody were the only players to have a positive plus-minus differential. This included fellow Warrior starters Gary Payton II and Justinian Jessup who both recorded a differential of -10.

The entire Magic starting lineup were in the negatives, including the number five overall pick Jalen Suggs. The Gonzaga product dropped 24 points, nine rebounds, two steals and three blocks, yet was still a -18 in the game.

In Wednesday’s match against the Heat, the pair also recorded positive plus-minus differentials despite a seven-point loss.

These statistics are demonstrating that Kuminga and Moody are playing winning basketball, whilst simultaneously showing that the team is so far struggling mightily when they’re on the bench.

It would be encouraging for the Warriors front office to see the pair playing winning basketball, especially when so much of the Summer League is about players trying to prove their individual ability.

It’s even more encouraging for a team that desperately wants to play winning basketball, one that seeks to return to championship contention whilst balancing the development of their young players.

The Warriors’ next Summer League game comes on Wednesday against the Toronto Raptors.