With the 2024-2025 NBA season a few weeks away, Steve Kerr is impressed with Jonathan Kuminga's growth as he enters his fourth year with the Warriors.
Speaking to the San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami on “The TK Show,” the Golden State coach opened up about Kuminga’s steady improvement since entering the league.
“I think JK if you look at his three years here, I think it would look like the stock market over 10 years,” Kerr said to Kawakami. “There have been some dips for sure, moments where I sat him, didn’t play him and took him out of the rotation. But from when he walked in three years ago until now, he is dramatically better. And that’s how this is supposed to go. Success and improvement are never linear at this level but especially for someone with so little experience.”
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Kerr then explained that Kuminga still is incredibly young and would have barely started his professional basketball career in a previous era.
“He’s still so young, if this were 20 years ago, 30 years ago, he would have just finished his fourth year of college or his rookie year in the NBA,” Kerr told Kawakami. “When you throw all that stuff in, I love where JK is right now because he’s gotten so much better, but he still has room for growth which is the exciting part. So, I’ve talked to him about this upcoming year and what the expectations are. I’m excited about it, he’s excited about it, he loves it here, he’s told me that.”
With many other members of the 2021 NBA Draft class receiving lucrative contract extensions, Kuminga has not yet reached an agreement with Golden State, something that Kerr noted.
“I think the hardest part for him is that he doesn’t have the extension yet and he’s seen some of the same guys from his draft class get extensions, but he understands the business,” Kerr explained to Kawakami. “He still has some things to prove, and he’s committed to going out and doing them and I’m going to help him every step and I’m excited about it.”
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Kawakami then asked Kerr about the possibility of Kuminga playing the “three” as the small forward this season, with the Warriors coach explaining that it would be based on the rotational combinations he rolls out.
“You get back to lineup combinations, he’s definitely a small forward if we’ve got a shooting five on the floor because then all the skill stuff you want out of a three: attacking the rim, getting there, now you’ve got a spread floor,” Kerr told Kawakami.
“If we’re playing Trayce [Jackson-Davis] and Draymond [Green], I’m going to have a hard time playing JK at the 3 but that’s kind of what I’m talking about with camp. Let’s see what happens with Kyle Anderson, let’s see what happens with a healthy Gary Payton.
“Hopefully, there are more combinations that we can play this year where JK does play a little bit more three and shoots it well enough and quickly enough to force defenses to come out at him. But these are all areas where it will unfold, and we’ll see these things as camp starts and we get into the season.”
The 21-year-old has flashed brilliance during his time with Golden State but has struggled with consistency during his three years in the league. This reportedly led to some hurt feelings and frustrations between Kuminga and Kerr, though both sides have worked out their differences since.
The new-look Warriors lineup will need another steady scoring presence behind Steph Curry, and Kuminga has all the physical tools necessary to fill that role.
For Kerr and the rest of the coaching staff, their long-term investment in Kuminga appears to be paying off at just the right time.