With Draymond Green suspended Game 3, will Coach Kerr turn to Kuminga?

Jonathan Kuminga, the Golden State Warriors’ #7 overall pick in the 2021 draft, has made major strides in his development in his sophomore season. Unfortunately we haven’t seen that during Golden State’s troubling first two games against the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the playoffs, as the champs have fallen down into an 0-2 hole.

Funny, it was just a month ago that the champs witnessed one of Kuminga’s most consistent stretches in his young career, per Ron Kroichick of the SF Chronicle:

The Golden State Warriors remain without forward Andrew Wiggins, but they can find some solace in this: Jonathan Kuminga is taking a striking leap forward as the Warriors steam into the home stretch.

They returned to Chase Center on Friday night to open a four-game homestand against Philadelphia. Kuminga arrived fresh off an impressive road trip, during which he averaged 16.2 points and shot 62.3% from the field.

A STRIKING LEAP FORWARD, folks! But what’s struck me is how little gametime he’s seen so far in this first round series against the Sacramento Kings.

In a piece by Monte Poole entitled, “Kuminga vows to bounce back from poor Game 1 vs. Kings”, there was a key quote from Kerr about Kuminga’s rough outing the first night of his playoff tilt:

“He did some good things,” coach Steve Kerr said Sunday. “Jonathan gives us another athletic defender to put on the point of attack, whether it’s (De’Aaron) For or (Malik) Monk. We can utilize him in a number of ways.

“But I’d like to see him rebound. He didn’t have a rebound last night, and that’s got to be a focal point for him – and for our whole team.”

In Game 2, Kuminga played 4 minutes and grabbed a rebound. And this is in a game that Draymond Green, Kevon Looney, and Andrew Wiggins all had five fouls, getting sat down with foul trouble! His fellow lottery draft pick Moses Moody soaked up 8 minutes, grabbing five rebounds in his time. Perhaps that’s a part of the reason the Warriors tied the Kings in rebounding in Game 2 after being dominated on the glass in the first contest.

But Green has been suspended by the NBA’s head of operations, a man who once worked three season for the Sacramento Kings before leaving for his current job in 2022. His name is Joe Dumars, and he’s an NBA legend who also once played with the Detroit Pistons...one of the most physical and shenaniganical teams in NBA history.

Apparently Green’s wrestling stomp on Sabonis and screaming at the fans afterward was so outrageous that he needs to be banned from the court tomorrow night. But that does open up about 30+ minutes for other Warriors to step up, like the aforementioned 6-foot-8 freak athlete Mr. Kuminga!

In nine games that Green missed during the regular season, Kuminga averaged 13.8 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, in 29.5 minutes per game. His best game during that stretch came in a December contest against the Utah Jazz when he scored 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in 29 minutes.

IT’S TIME TO UNLEASH KUMINGA KAOS!