When the Golden State Warriors drafted Jonathan Kuminga with their top lottery selection in 2021, the expectation was that Kuminga would be the leading candidate to take the torch from Stephen Curry. An athletic wing with the potential to be a two-way wing, expectations for Kuminga were sky high.
Those high hopes never materialized for the young forward. His tenure was defined by a lack of a clear role, inconsistent on-court production, and a very strained relationship with head coach Steve Kerr. Kuminga requested a trade multiple times over the last couple seasons, but just got his wish a couple weeks ago when he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks for Kristaps Porzingis.
The Kuminga-Warriors partnership may have came to its merciful end, but the aftermath has revealed even more of how messy the relationship between Kuminga and Kerr was.
Head coach Steve Kerr saw Kuminga as more of a role player than a budding star
In an in-depth ESPN piece by Anthony Slater, Kerr reportedly saw Kuminga as a high-energy wing that could defend, run the floor, and operate out of the dunker spot. He compared the young forward to Shawn Marion or Aaron Gordon. Kerr thought that could be a valuable role for Kuminga to play.
Kuminga did not see it that way. He thought that he had shown enough to earn a consistent on-ball role and be a rotation fixture. He felt that Kerr was putting him in a box and did not believe in him as a player.
The two could never see eye to eye on Kuminga’s role, which led to arguments in Kerr’s office, passive aggressive postgame media availabilities from Kuminga, and a lot of DNPs.
While Kuminga did show potential as an on-ball creator, given the fact that Golden State is still Curry’s team, he would have been better suited to play the role Kerr envisioned for him. After all, it’s not like Curry is going to play for forever and Kuminga could have had the role he wished for once Curry retired. He just didn’t want to wait.
Kuminga desperately needed a change of scenery and the Warriors needed to move on and get a player who would be a better fit next to Curry. Maybe Kuminga will get the big role he envisions for himself in Atlanta and maybe Porzingis is the answer that Golden State has been looking for at the center spot. Either way, it was a tumultuous, but necessary divorce.