Across the various positives and negatives emanating from the Golden State Warriors last two games, the play of Jonathan Kuminga may have been the most exciting.
It’s really the first time Steve Kerr has placed trust in the number seven overall pick, giving him a sustained taste of playing alongside Stephen Curry and against some of the most talented offensive players in the league.
Unlike many fellow draft selections, Warriors’ forward Jonathan Kuminga has had to patiently wait his turn, stuck in a deep rotation.
Kuminga has repaid that trust in spades so far, setting him up for a more permanent role in the rotation should that contribution continue. It’s not that the 19-year-old has lit up the box score or stuffed the stat sheet, it’s more the approach he’s taken to his tasks and the comfort level he’s displayed on the floor.
The message is fairly simple for Kuminga and for that matter fellow young talents in James Wiseman and Moses Moody as well. Steve Kerr and the coaching staff are interested in how they can contribute to the team first and foremost, rather than simply flashing their skyscraping potential.
That’s a very different position than where most high picks find themselves.
In most cases, they’re given the opportunity to showcase whatever their individual games can produce. The franchises understand their young talent is the future and what fans can hold their hopes on, plus they’re usually not prioritizing winning.
Last season, the Warriors were in this boat. Wiseman was their new toy ready to showcase to the franchise, the one reward from a 2019-20 season that saw them finish with the worst record in the league.
They were realistic about where they were at, that without Klay Thompson and with the roster constructed, they were unlikely to make a deep playoff push. It’s for that reason that, even after battling Covid and having little to no training camp, Wiseman was the starting center on opening night in Brooklyn.
He showed a plethora of potential, providing an array of plays across the season that had every fan excited.
But too often, a few highlight plays were intertwined with plays that simply weren’t contributing to the team winning. Whether it be miscommunication and lapses on defense or ill-advised, inefficient shots on offense.