Fifth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga has been DNP’ed by the Golden State Warriors since the Dec. 18 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he didn’t start the season out of favour with head coach Steve Kerr.
Kuminga averaged 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds from 30.8 minutes through his first six games in October, and continued to impress through the first week of November, with a 17-point effort against the Indiana Pacers and 24-point burst against the Sacramento Kings. However, by the second week of November, Kerr gradually reduced Kuminga’s minutes, which coincided with the Congolese forward suffering a knee injury.
When Kuminga returned from his injury, Kerr almost forgot that he had an athletic wing on the bench, raring to go and prove himself. It wasn’t long until Kerr completely pulled Kuminga out of the rotation — a move that baffles DeMarcus Cousins.
Tanking Kuminga’s Trade Value
In an explosive rant on Fan Duel TV’s “Run it Back,” Cousins called out his former Warriors coach for his mistreatment of Kuminga.
“It’s a strange situation. It’s like self-sabotage,” he said of the Kerr-Kuminga situation.
The retired All-Star is all the more puzzled with the situation, as Kuminga’s reduced role has reportedly tanked his trade value, which obviously doesn’t bode well for Golden State’s chances of making roster upgrades ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
“That’s why I’m saying Steve is the problem in this scenario,” Cousins stressed. “Like nothing that he’s doing right now is making sense. It’s pretty obvious.”
Cousins further blasted Kerr for not instilling confidence in his young players.
“You’re speaking down on your team, you’re not instilling confidence in this group, it’s been problem after problem as far as development over the years, so it’s obvious why you’re kinda in this position that you’re in now with this group,” Cousins said of Kerr.
“This type of message, this type of lack of energy, this type of lack of confidence in your group, this only spread within the rest of the guys.”
Steve Kerr Changes His Tone on JK
During the same FanDuel TV segment, Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas praised Kuminga for not losing his cool with Kerr for all the DNPs.
“I give Kuminga a lot of credit for not blowing up,” Thomas said, via SF Gate. “He must have some good vets around him and some good people in his family, because I know if it was me or any other NBA player, we Latrell Sprewell, we choking the coach.”
It’s worth noting that Kerr spoke very highly of Kuminga at the start of the season, praising the youngster’s maturity and for finding a role on the Warriors.
“JK has been fantastic. It just feels like he’s found his spot with this group, playing with Jimmy [Butler] and Dray[mond] [Green] on the front line,” he said in late October.
However, Kerr’s tone has completely changed about Kuminga recently.
“…It was going to be tricky to start JK, Jimmy, Draymond, at the 2,3, and 4. I think anybody can see that’s a tough combination based on shooting,” he said on Thursday.
Last year, too, when Kuminga received a bunch of DNPs, Kerr cited the lack of spacing in a Warriors starting five with three non-shooters — Kuminga, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler. But apparently those issues miraculously disappeared during the first month of the season, when Kuminga started next to Green and Butler.
The D-Day for when Kuminga can be traded — Jan. 15 — is fast approaching. The Kings are reportedly the only suitor with real interest in acquiring him.
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