Management of Golden State Warriors’ youth again in question despite win

There were a host of positives as the Golden State Warriors got a crucial 126-110 win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, but the management of the team’s recent lottery picks has to be in question again despite the victory.

Jonathan Kuminga played just over five minutes in the contest and none in the second-half, while James Wiseman was completely out of the rotation despite 11 promising minutes against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.

The Golden State Warriors got an important 16-point victory on Sunday in Toronto, yet their was little contribution from their recent lottery picks.

Moses Moody had some nice defensive moments in his 11 minutes, but you could realistically expect more playing time for him as well given the absence of Andrew Wiggins. Head coach Steve Kerr was ultimately proven correct with his rotations though as the Warriors produced a rare good performance on the road.

That was particularly the case with Wiseman as Kerr went solely with the experienced trio of Draymond Green, Kevon Looney and JaMychal Green. Each made their presence known throughout the game — the Green’s combined for five threes, 32 points and 16 rebounds, while Looney had another double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

However, Wiseman’s absence until two minutes of garbage time was a little bizarre given Kerr’s comments surrounding the former number two pick on Friday.

"“I like being able to play him and have him impacting games that are meaningful. That’s an important part of his development. At the same time, we’re trying to win every game and it’s been a rough go”, Kerr said of Wiseman following the 76ers loss."

Wiseman, the lone seven footer on the Warriors roster, could have been a factor in preventing the Raptors’ 18 offensive rebounds, though that didn’t prove a difference in the final result. The bigger story might be Kuminga who surely had some sort of injury/illness that prevented his playing time.

Last year’s seventh overall pick had a couple of ill-advised mid-range jumpshots in the first-half, but that should have by no means seen a demotion given his excellent level of play over the past few weeks. He failed to play at all in the second-half and the fact he was absent in garbage time lends credence to unconfirmed reports that he was having his knee looked at and iced.

Unfortunately no reporters asked Kerr about Wiseman or Kuminga in the post-game press conference, leaving fans none the wiser regarding their status as Golden State prepare to close their six-game road trip with a back-to-back against the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets.