Did Warriors Give Jonathan Kuminga Enough Runway for Development? It's Complicated

There is a narrative among some NBA fans and media members that Jonathan Kuminga never got a fair shot with the Golden State Warriors.

To them, he would be a star by now, but Steve Kerr's constant benchings shackled his development.

Did the Warriors give Kuminga anough runway for his development?

It's complicated.

With the Warriors facing Kuminga on another team for the first time Saturday, let's go over what happened with his tenure and why some are wondering if he still has loads of untapped potential in year five.

Rookie Year

Kuminga was drafted to a team with championship aspirations, and sure enough, his rookie season concluded with a championship.

So it was no surprise that he didn't play a huge role, as he averaged16.9 minutes per game in 70 games.

That put him at 1,185 minutes played, which was the 20th-highest total among 2021-22 rookies.

Most of the rookies who have ascended to stardom played more minutes, including Scottie Barnes (2,617), Franz Wagner (2,429), Evan Mobley (2,313), Cade Cunningham (2,088), Alperen Sengun (1,489) and Austin Reaves (1,418).

The one outlier is Trey Murphy III, who played just 864 minutes as a rookie and is now a three-level-scoring terror.

You can argue the Warriors didn't give him enough rookie season minutes, but had they given him more, perhaps they don't win the championship. To this point, I'd say they did right by him.

2022-23 Season

The Warriors started their title-defense season by starting James Wiseman and increasing Jonathan Kuminga's minutes.

Wiseman was a disaster who got traded by midseason, sending the Warriors down a path to the sixth seed, but Kuminga was a bright spot.

He minutes per game jumped from 16.9 to 20.8, and his three-point percentage improved from 33.6 to 37.0.

Over the last 17 games of the season, his minutes jumped to 24.0, and he averaged 13.6 points on 59.4 percent shooting.

Then came the now-infamous Kings series that probably should have been the moment the Warriors looked to trade him.

Kuminga played just 10 minutes in Game 1 before playing just four minutes in Game 2. As most coaches do, Kerr was shortening his playoff rotation, and Kuminga, still just 20 years old, was guilty of more obvious mistakes like being late on help-side defense that Kerr surely felt was unacceptable in a playoff setting.

Kuminga played just three minutes in Game 4 before getting a DNP in Game 5. He got in for just four minutes in Game 6, a shocking 118-99 loss that forced a Game 7.

That led to Stephen Curry's pre-Game 7 speech about asking everyone on the team to buy in.

"He implored them to put all of their feelings aside — which sources with knowledge of the locker room felt was messaging directed at Poole, Jonathan Kuminga and other guys who might’ve been unhappy for reasons such as playing time and role — and lock in to the unified mission," Anthony Slater wrote.

Kuminga played just three minutes in Game 7 and just 25 minutes in Golden State's six-game series loss to the Lakers.

Jordan Poole was traded in the offseason, but Kuminga remained.

2023-24 Season

Kuminga had a breakout season, starting 46 of his 74 games and averaging 26.3 minutes. The Warriors prioritized his development more than ever, even publicly saying that Kuminga was the No. 2 option.

"JK's taken off," Draymond Green said. "That has kind of set the stage for this team. [He's a] bona fide No. 2 option on our team."

Kuminga's scoring average vaulted from 9.9 points in year two to 16.1 points in year three. His three-point shooting was not progressing (32.1 percent), but the improvements in the rest of his game were encouraging.

But the team was not thriving. The Warriors finished 10th in the Western Conference and lost their play-in game to the Kings.

Once again, I'd argue the Warriors did give Kuminga enough runway to develop in year three. And things were trending in the right direction before a fourth-year regression.

2024-25 Season

The Warriors lost Klay Thompson in the offseason, leaving no doubt that Kuminga was the No. 2 option as he was at times the previous season. Kuminga wanted to be a star, and the Warriors needed him to be a star.

But Kuminga got off to a surprisingly bad start. After three bad games, he was relegated to coming off the bench. The stats for his first 15 games represented a significant regression: 13.3 points on 44.5 percent from the field and 30.6 percent from three.

But starting in December, Kerr gave him a consistent role with big minutes, and he responded with an excellent 14-game stretch in which he averaged 20.9 points on 47.7 percent shooting and 37.3 percent from three.

But then he got hurt.

Kuminga ended up missing two months with a sprained ankle. The Warriors, who started the season 12-3, were heading in the wrong direction even when Kuminga was healthy and playing well. Without him, Stephen Curry was taking on an offensive load no one should have to bear, getting run into the ground in the process.

The Warriors had to make a move—a big move—and after the Kevin Durant trade fell through, they acquired Jimmy Butler.

The trade saved the season. The Warriors looked better than they had since the 2021-22 season.

But it was obvious that when Kuminga returned from his injury, his fit would be awkward with Butler and Green.

Kuminga made just 17.1 percent of his threes after returning from injury, and his poor play convinced Kerr that he shouldn't be a playoff rotation fixture.

After barely playing against the Rockets in Golden State's seven-game triumph, Kuminga got big minutes against the Timberwolves because Curry suffered a hamstring injury.

Kuminga exploded by averaging 24.3 points on 55.4 percent shooting in Games 2-5, all Warriors losses.

This four-game stretch is the reason for most of the Kuminga debates to this day. After all, if Kuminga could thrive against a good defensive team while playing alongside Butler and Green in the playoffs, he could thrive any time, right?

This Season

After months of trade and contract rumors, the Warriors and Kuminga finally agreed to two-year deal worth $48.5 million in late September with the second year as a team option.

It was lauded for being the perfect contract for an in-season trade, but NBA rules made it so the Warriors would have to wait until Jan. 15 to deal him.

Despite that backdrop, Kuminga started the first 12 games of the season and was particularly effective for the first nine, as he averaged 17.2 points on 51.4 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from three.

But after a dreadful three-game stretch he was relegated to a bench role. He then missed seven games with a knee injury before returning and struggling in a four-game stretch.

That led to his first of many healthy DNPs, which felt like something Kuminga and the Warriors couldn't come back from. Somewhere in there, there was a Kuminga trade request, and the Warriors eventually honored it by dealing him and Buddy Hield to the Hawks for Kristaps Porzingis.

Why the Debate About Kuminga's Development Is Complicated

There are a number of conclusions one can make about Kuminga's development with the Warriors.

In the 2023 playoffs and 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons, Kuminga saw his playing time cut. Sometimes it was because he was struggling, and other times it was because Kerr simply thought other players were a better fit for what the team needed. In any event, had the Warriors never given him any sudden minutes reductions, he might still be a Warrior today, and it's possible he'd better developed too.

On the other hand, Kuminga played 4,528 minutes in his first three seasons. That's a lot of investment, and it resulted in a fourth-year regression in scoring efficiency and impact. This is why many Warriors fans believe Kuminga is simply not that good. They'd argue he got plenty of development opportunity, and it he was meant to be a star, it would've been obvious by now.

Today, Kuminga is still just 23 years old. There's a chance he significantly improves his three-point shot to the point defenses have to respect it, which would give him more driving lanes. That version of Kuminga could be a star.

He's not there yet. His playmaking has not improved much in five years, and he's not as impactful of a defender as a 6'7" athletic dynamo could be.

Will the Hawks give him the runway he needs? Will it matter even if he gets it?

Your guess is as good as mine.