When Jonathan Kuminga returned to the Warriors, he noticed a lot of changes. During his two-month absence, the team had reshaped into something better, largely due to the influence of Jimmy Butler. What once seemed like a squad losing hope had regained some optimism. But the veteran occupied Kuminga’s position and now that he is back, the biggest question is, where does he fit into this revamped lineup? Well, head coach Steve Kerr had an answer for that.
Following the team’s practice at Chase Center earlier today, the 4x champion coach clarified to the media what his plans for the 22-year-old are. Kerr stated, “He’s probably going to play all of the non-Jimmy minutes.” The reason was simple. Both of them play the same position. Having them on the court at the same time would only create chaos, and that’s the last thing the Warriors would want with the playoffs approaching.
Kerr further explained his strategy, saying, “The first thing I’m excited about is being able to bring them off the bench and have that type of threat to score and get to the rim. And then, yeah, the next step is to play them together and develop a rhythm and some continuity with those two together. They will for sure be with, um, a five, you know, neither one is going to play the five in small balls, so it’ll either be Draymond or probably QP (Quinten Post) for the spacing. So we’re going to have to figure that part out.”
Kuminga suffered an ankle sprain on January 4 and missed 31 consecutive games. After a long wait, he finally made his return on Thursday night, dropping 18 points against Sacramento. With Kuminga’s return, the team is sure to gain more depth and strength. Kerr doesn’t want to rush him but prefers to let him gradually adjust to the new dynamics. His presence will definitely help take some pressure off Jimmy, preventing him from burning out in the postseason.
This is a developing story….
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