Kerr details Kuminga’s relationship into the 2024-25 season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
With the 2024-2025 NBA season a few weeks away, Steve Kerr is impressed with the growth of Jonathan Kuminga as he enters his fourth year with the Warriors.
Speaking to Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard “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 for 10 years,” Kerr told Kawakami. “There were definitely some dips, moments where I sat him, didn’t play him and took him out of the rotation. But from when he came in three years ago until now, he is drastically better. And this is how this should go. Success and improvement is never linear at this level but especially for someone with so little experience.”
Kerr then explained that Kuminga is still incredibly young and would have barely started his professional basketball career in a previous era.
“He’s still so young, if this was 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 in all those things, I love where JK is right now because he’s improved a lot, but he still has room for growth, which is the exciting part. So, I talked to him about this coming year and what the expectations are. I’m excited about it, he’s excited about it, he loves it here, he told me that.”
With many other members of the 2021 NBA Draft class receiving lucrative contract extensions, Kuminga has yet to reached an agreement with Golden State, something Kerr noted.
“I think the hardest part for him is 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’s still got some things to prove and he’s committed to going out there and doing them and I’m going to help him every step of the way and I’m excited about that.”
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 will be based on the rotation combinations he implements.
“You go back to lineup combinations, he’s definitely a small forward if we have a shooting five on the floor because then all the skills you want out of a three: attack the rim, get there, now you have. spread out floor,” Kerr told Kawakami.
“If we play Trayce [Jackson-Davis] and Draymond [Green]I have a hard time playing JK at the 3 but that’s what I’m talking about camp. Let’s see what happens with Kyle Anderson, let’s see what happens with a healthy Gary Payton.
“Hopefully, there’s more combinations that we can play this year where JK plays a little more three and shoots it well enough and quick enough to force defenses to come out against him. But these are all areas where it’s going to develop, and we’ll see these things when camp starts and we get into the season.”
The 21-year-old shined during his time with Golden State but struggled with consistency during his three years in the league. This reportedly caused some hurt feelings and frustrations between Kuminga and Kerr, although both sides worked out their differences later.
The new look Warriors lineup will need another steady scoring presence behind Steph Curry, and Kuminga has all the physical tools needed. to fulfill 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.
