Warriors Announce New Starting Lineup vs. Mavs: Does It Feature Kuminga?

The Golden State Warriors will play their 20th different starting lineup of the 2025-26 season against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.

It will not feature Jonathan Kuminga, who returned to the rotation on Tuesday and had 20 points in 21 minutes against the Raptors.

But it does have Gui Santos making just his third start of the season.

The full lineup is Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, Santos and Draymond Green.

This quintet has played just 18 possessions this season, per Cleaning the Glass. In that very small sample size, it has a minus-12.1 net rating.

Should Kerr Have Gone with Kuminga?

Light Years podcast host Sam Esfandiari was one of many who recently suggested the Warriors should go with Kuminga in the starting lineup at least until the trade deadline.

It's a fascinating predicament for Steve Kerr.

On the one hand, Kuminga is perhaps the Warriors' most dangerous player in transition. Playing Kuminga from the get-go would help the team get more fast-break points.

On the other hand, the Warriors will always have the issue of whether Kuminga and Draymond Green can play together. Both are subpar shooters, and because defenders often sag off them, there is less space for whichever Warriors they are sharing the court with.

This season, lineups with Green and Kuminga have a pretty bad 112.2 offensive rating, but they also have a pretty good 111.0 defensive rating.

Meanwhile, lineups with Green and Santos have a great 123.3 offensive rating, and they also have a pretty good 111.8 defensive rating.

So I can see the logic of staggering the Green and Kuminga minutes. It's not that Green and Kuminga can't play together, but Green and Santos might be a better pairing.

Klay Has Been On Fire Lately

The Mavs are beat up, as Anthony Davis (hand) is out for at least the next five weeks, Kyrie Irving (knee) is probably out for the season, Dereck Lively II (foot) is out for the season, and Daniel Gafford (ankle) is out for Thursday's game.

Cooper Flagg is also on a minutes restriction of about 24 minutes.

To say the least, it's a winnable game for the Warriors, but they have to contain an old friend to ensure that they get it.

Klay Thompson has made 32 of his last 64 three-point attempts in his las seven games. He's averaging 17.4 points per game in that stretch, which is up from his season-long average of 12.0.

Between Thompson and Max Christie, the Warriors can't give up 12 threes like the Knicks did on Monday. Keeping those two from going off is probably the biggest key of the game.