Following the Golden State Warriors Play-In Tournament exit at the end of last season, head coach Steve Kerr detailed where the improvements needed to come from for young forward Jonathan Kuminga.
Kerr specifically noted whether Kuminga could make himself more versatile to play at the three, particularly in regard to aspect like ball-handling and shooting. Nearly six months on and we may have expected to have greater clarity on Kuminga's role heading into his fourth NBA season. We don't.
Jonathan Kuminga and Draymond Green are seemingly at odds with Warriors head coach Steve Kerr
It appears Kuminga is still at odds somewhat with Kerr when it comes to his best position, so too veteran forward Draymond Green when he weighed into the debate after day two of training camp on Wednesday.
Coming back from an important offseason, there appears to have been a strong emphasis from Kuminga on letting everyone know he's a small forward. He reiterated that on Tuesday, telling reporters “at the end of the day I know I’m a small forward and I can play at the highest level."
Green, who knows a thing or two about the power forward position, concurs with his young teammate. “I think he’s a three. That’s always been my opinion," the 34-year-old said on Wednesday.
Draymond on Kuminga: “I think he’s a three. That’s always been my opinion. To play the four, it requires a certain skill set. A certain knowledge and a certain understanding of that position to do that.” pic.twitter.com/mCO7xg6ERD
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) October 3, 2024
But whatever Kuminga and Green believe, it appears Kerr disagrees. During a recent interview with Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard, Kerr stated, "if we’re playing Trayce (Jackson-Davis) and Draymond, I’m going to have a hard time playing JK at the three."
Kerr believes Kuminga can be the three with a shooting center, but the Warriors don't have one on their roster aside from rookie big man Quinten Post who's on a two-way contract. This situation is becoming a problem for Golden State, and ideally one we wouldn't be discussing after the former seventh overall pick seemingly broke through during the second half of last season.
From Kerr's comments on Kuminga, his desire for the Warriors to be an elite defensive team this season, and his priority on a high volume of three-point shooting, we can only assume at this stage that Kuminga is facing an uphill battle to be a starter come opening night against the Portland Trail Blazers on October 23.
According to Basketball Reference, Kuminga has only played 5% of his NBA career to date as a small forward. Can Kerr's perspective switch enough to suggest the 21-year-old can beat out Andrew Wiggins as the starting three? That would seem unlikely right now, but we still have the remainder of training camp and preseason to find out.