As the Golden State Warriors near the finals stretch of their race for the playoffs, much of the uncertainty that surrounded their rotation throughout the season has been quelled, resulting in a team that largely knows its offensive identity and has been able to execute it on most nights.
However, young forward Jonathan Kuminga, who missed 31 games this season with a severe ankle sprain suffered in early January, has not yet found his rhythm in the Warriors' new offensive configuration following the trade for Jimmy Butler.
As an athletic and dynamic scorer, Kuminga excels, but with the offense now centering more closely around Butler's interior offense and the spacing that provides, he has largely looked awkward in the few games he's played.
Now, after exiting the game against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday due to a heavy fall resulting in a pelvic contusion, Kuminga's spot in the rotation is in jeopardy, and one stat shows just how his presence has impacted the team.
Is Jonathan Kuminga actually harming the Warriors?
The 22-year-old was having a career year prior to his injury, averaging 16.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists through his first 32 games of the season. Yet at that time, Golden State's offense often looked stagnant, and Kuminga oscillated in and out of the starting lineup.
Now, since the All-Star Break, Kuminga has posted the lowest plus-minus -- a shocking -4.0 -- among players that are still playing significant minutes for the team. The Warriors have posted 148 and 134 points in their last two games without Kuminga's input, including gaining a big road win against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.
Even in Stephen Curry's two-game absence due to a hip contusion, which could have theoretically opened up a spot for Kuminga in the starting lineup alongside Butler, Kuminga was still relegated to bench minutes and struggled mightily in the team's back-to-back losses, posting a combined -31 plus-minus.
As the Warriors continue to battle for a top six seed and begin to narrow down their rotation for the playoffs, Kuminga might not prove to be a useful player for head coach Steve Kerr through this brutal final stretch of the season.
Furthermore, as Kuminga approaches restricted free agency this summer, in which a rebuilding team might make an offer the Warriors may not match in good conscience, such a startling statistic might influence the franchise's decision in pursuing an extension for the former seventh overall pick.
With Butler being signed for two more years at the hefty price of $111 million, and the team having a whopping $175.8 still tied up in their veteran duo of Curry and Draymond Green, it is likely that the franchise might have to pass on a significant extension for a player that has not yet found his fit in this new iteration of the team.