Starting the trio of Jimmy Butler, Jonathan Kuminga and Draymond Green together might be painful for Steve Kerr based on his previous comments, but it might have to be done to combat Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic as the Golden State Warriors prepare to face the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night.
Kerr revealed on Monday that he had settled on a starting five for Tuesday's game, yet wouldn't go as far as to declare what it was beyond the assumed quartet of Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Butler and Green.
Warriors might need Jonathan Kuminga to guard Luka Doncic
With Moses Moody sidelined by a calf injury, the answer on who will be the fifth starter appears to come down to Kuminga or Al Horford. The latter was seen as Golden State's starting center entering the season, but recent comments from Kerr regarding Horford's 20-minute per game threshold has thrown that into some uncertainty.
Horford could still start against the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday, giving the Warriors more of a traditional starting five from a position and size standpoint. However, that would leave them without an obvious matchup for Doncic -- one of the MVP favorites heading into the season.
Kerr won't want to burn out Butler or Green by making them defend Doncic primarily throughout the course of the game, while Curry and Podziemski are both obviously undersized. That means that Golden State might have to start smaller purely due to Doncic's presence, with Kuminga perhaps the best answer for the 5x All-Star given Moody's unavailability.
Standing at 6'7" with elite athleticism, Kuminga certainly has the physical tools to guard Doncic in a way many of his teammates don't. Whether he has the smarts and discipline to do it effectively is another question, but it's not like he hasn't been given a similar task before after being the team's best answer against Anthony Edwards in last season's second-round playoff elimination at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Having Kuminga on Doncic would likely leave Podziemski on Austin Reaves, Curry on Gabe Vincent, Butler on Rui Hachimura, and Green on Deandre Ayton in what appears like a game where both teams have some defensive concerns.
Doncic has averaged a stunning 31.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 10.0 assists in his last 10 games against the Warriors, including a mammoth 45-point, 11-rebound, 13-assist performance in December last year when he was still with the Dallas Mavericks.
Kerr and the coaching staff want Kuminga to be far more than just a scorer, something he's shown in preseason as a far more willing passer and stronger rebounder. Now there's an opportunity to be incredibly impactful as a defender, albeit there's few bigger challenges in the league than trying to limit Doncic.