The entire Golden State Warriors offseason has been a parade of discussion among fans on who will start, who should start, and what does the remainder of Steve Kerr's rotation look like?
As the Warriors completed their first day of training camp in Hawaii on Tuesday, we now draw ever close to finally getting some answers. Some of those answers are sure to displease the passionate fanbase, including a potentially controversial decision on one of the team's brightest stars.
Jonathan Kuminga could be the odd man out for the Warriors
Many believe that Jonathan Kuminga should be a certain starter, owing to his impressive rise during the second half of last season and Golden State's desperate need for a legitimate second scorer to pair with Stephen Curry.
But Kuminga is just one of a multitude of front court options available to Kerr, leaving significant decisions on who to leave out. There has been a prominent idea that Draymond Green could start at the five, or even the more radical approach that all four of Andrew Wiggins, Kuminga, Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis could start together alongside Stephen Curry.
However, in an article late on Tuesday, ESPN's Kendra Andrews suggested there's more likely to be individual battles for spots, specifically pointing to the choice between Jackson-Davis or Kevon Looney at the five, and Kuminga and Wiggins for one of the other forward spots next to Green.
If the choice comes down to one of Wiggins or Kuminga, the latter could be pushing up a big hill in preseason to take that spot from his veteran teammate. Kerr has already publicly questioned Kuminga's ability to play at small forward, especially without a 'shooting five' in which Jackson-Davis or Looney currently aren't.
On the other hand, Kerr has set significant expectations on Wiggins, even as recently as Tuesday where he stated that he wants the 2022 All-Star to get up six to seven three-point attempts per game. Kerr also outlined that Wiggins will be featured heavily in the offense as Golden State aim to replace the departed Klay Thompson. How can those come to fruition if Wiggins is coming off the bench?
If Kuminga still can't win a starting role at the start of his fourth season, it's once again going to raise major question marks about his future with the franchise, made all the more complicated by the fact he's extension eligible up until the October 21 deadline.
Furthermore, it will lead to more frustration from a large cohort of Kuminga believers who think his role with the Warriors should be far more significant than what it's otherwise been across the first three years of his career.