The Golden State Warriors have been without Jonathan Kuminga for some time as he deals with bilateral knee tendinitis. The young forward is again absent for Monday night's game against the Utah Jazz, and this whole situation is starting to feel very bizarre.
This knee injury popped up shortly after post-game comments from veterans following the loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier in the month, with some taking the words as a shot to Kuminga and fellow youngster Brandin Podziemski.
When asked about Kuminga's potential return date, head coach Steve Kerr said that he had no idea when that would take place and told the media that they would have to ask the 23-year-old himself which seemed to suggest there may be something else going on here.
Jonathan Kuminga's situation with the Warriors is becoming bizarre
Of course, Kuminga may be dealing with knee issues. His play did decline the last time we saw him on the court, so it would make sense that his knees were giving him some issues which may have led to the underwhelming production.
At the same time, it could be true that Kerr is in no hurry to get Kuminga back, even though the Warriors haven't exactly been setting the world on fire in his absence. Stephen Curry delivered a few classic performances against the San Antonio Spurs which got them back on track, but they have dropped three straight and are now dealing with injuries to other players on the team.
There have been endless trade rumors surrounding Kuminga and the Warriors dating back to the summer when his contract negotiations were very public and drawn out. Golden State cannot trade him until January, but a trade seems like a distinct possibility if Kuminga cannot return and become a consistent rotation piece.
There has always been a question of how well Kuminga meshes with what the Warriors try to do, particularly offensively where everything surrounds Stephen Curry. If the front office determines that they can get a player who they think would support a Curry-led offense better, they may decide to pull the lever on that trade to take advantage of whatever window they have with No. 30 still playing at a high level.
Obviously the Warriors would need Kuminga to return before any potential trade, allowing opposing teams to see that he can still be effective. For now, it seems the Warriors or Kuminga himself are not in a huge rush for him to return to the floor as they still try to figure out their identity.