The Golden State Warriors are on the brink of elimination after a Game 4 loss at Chase Center on Monday night, but Jonathan Kuminga was once against the biggest and perhaps only positive from the 117-110 defeat.
Kuminga was so good that Steve Kerr kept Jimmy Butler on the bench for the final four minutes of the first-half, yet it once again raises questions on what the Warriors will do with the young forward as a restricted free agent this offseason.
The Warriors find themselves in a Jonathan Kuminga free agency trap
The 22-year-old has been sensational over the past three games, and particularly in the last two as one of the only reasons Golden State even had a chance of winning either home outing. Kuminga had a playoff career-high 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting in Game 3, before continuing that hot form with 16 first-half points on Monday night.
Kuminga, like the Warriors as a team, slowed down in the second-half but still finished with a team-high 23 points -- nine more than any of his teammates. Still far from his expected prime yet capable of posting 53 points in two high-stakes playoff games, how can Golden State afford not to pay and retain Kuminga this offseason?
However, paying him big money is still fraught with danger as the franchise continues to try and build around Stephen Curry. Whether rightly or wrongly, Kerr believed Kuminga was not a fit with Curry and Butler on the floor, subsequently leading to his place out of the rotation in six of an eight-game span in recent weeks.
Kuminga's had a stunning turnaround from out of the rotation to arguably the team's second-best player in the last two games, but the increased opportunity has only really been born from Curry's absence due a hamstring injury.
So while the former seventh overall pick has been incredibly impressive over the last two games, there's still the concern of exactly where and how he fits with Curry and Butler both available. Unfortunately Golden State may not get anymore data on that unless Curry makes a miracle return for Game 5, or if the undermanned visitors can pull out a victory to force a Game 6.
It leaves Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the front office in a tough position they can't escape. Do these two performances mean the Warriors simply have to re-sign Kuminga this offseason, even if there's no proof of him working consistently effectively with Curry and Butler?