Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is all for Jonathan Kuminga starting over him for the greater good of the team. Despite being one of the franchise’s legends and pillars of their championship success, Green is willing to sacrifice his minutes and give Kuminga the opportunity to be the starter.
Warriors & Draymond Green want to see if Jonathan Kuminga can reach stardom
Green was sent to the bench in favor of Kuminga for the Warriors’ most recent matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night. Though Golden State got blown out by a score of 107-90, Green was a proponent of head coach Steve Kerr wanting to see what they truly have with their budding young talent, saying this to the media after the game, per ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk:
“Of course, I’m OK with it,” Green said. “I have been one of JK’s biggest fans since he’s been here. And so if he has an opportunity to start, you can’t be hypocritical, and [if] they’re like we want him to start, but it’ll be [up to] you, you can’t be like, ah, it’s not for me, that don’t work. I want to see him do well.
“So if his opportunity goes through me, then it is what it is. He earned the opportunity. He played extremely well [Thursday]. You want to give that another look or two or three or four or however long. If it works, then you continue with it.”
Warriors: Kuminga may be up next after play vs. Rockets
The Michigan State product plainly declared that he and many within the Warriors’ organization believe that Kuminga is “next.” The latter showed that on Thursday night in the team’s 99-93 win over the Houston Rockets, as Green alluded to. The 22-year-old star put up 33 points, 14 of which came in the fourth quarter, and seven rebounds to lead the Dubs to victory over the Rockets.
Kuminga’s athleticism, triple-threat offense from deep, the mid-range, and at the rim, coupled with his clutch factor — including a game-sealing layup with 16.2 seconds left to go in regulation against Houston — gave Golden State enough reason to want to see more out of him. The Democratic Republic of the Congo native has long been viewed as a player with superstar potential.
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Warriors’ Green may need to take a backseat for short-term
To see that come to fruition, the Warriors felt it necessary to replace Green with Kuminga in the starting lineup, seeing that Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins are fixed as their leading scorers, and playing Green at the five would put the Warriors at a size disadvantage against bigger lineups. Golden State shifting Wiggins to the shooting guard slot with Kuminga and Green manning the three and four slots would be doable, but the Warriors would likely compromise some shooting punch as a result.
Kuminga came back down to earth in his first start over Green on Friday night, though. He scored 13 points on 6-15 shooting from the field against the T-Wolves. No matter, he’ll have more chances to make his impressive showing against the Rockets the norm. As for Green, it is all too likely that he will rejoin the starting lineup again this season.
