Let’s be honest. How many people thought Jonathan Kuminga could have this big of an impact this soon?
It would have been hard to predict four months ago, when the Warriors rookie was working his way back from a strained patella in his right knee. To that point, the 19-year-old had played just 13 G League games, five Summer League contests and two preseason exhibitions. He looked solid in Las Vegas over the summer, sure, but that’s the same place where Marco Belinelli once looked like a basketball god.
Ever since a fateful January G League game in Mississippi, Kuminga has wedged his way into coach Steve Kerr’s rotation. The dunks and the raw athleticism catch your eye first. But over the past few weeks, Kuminga has shown off a more confident shooting stroke and impressive basketball IQ.
In Thursday night’s 132-95 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, Kuminga racked up a career-high 12 free-throw attempts and knocked down 10 of them, en route to 17 points. He also grabbed eight boards and put up a +24 in plus/minus, tops for any of his 48 games so far.
Despite his youth, Kuminga has shown a great ability to stay in his lane and take advantage of the situation presented by the defense. Instead of trying to force his way into the action, he’s redefining his skills around the game and his role in the offense. One day he might be the focal point of the Warriors’ system, for now he knows how to get in where he fits in.
“I’m going to keep it real,” Kuminga said Thursday night. “I don’t think the team really needs me to shoot. We got at least seven shooters and three of them are the best shooters in the league. I don’t need to be out there chasing threes. I know I can get to the free-throw line easy.”
Kuminga has also shown an uncanny ability to finish around the rim with quick footwork and shown a natural sense to take advantage of his body and physicality to shield the ball from defenders. Once he starts to get elevated, no one on defense really wants a piece.
For nine straight games, Kuminga has notched at least double-digit points. He’s averaging 15.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 58.8 percent from the floor in that span. One of Kuminga’s biggest advocates throughout his rookie year has been Klay Thompson and he spoke up again Thursday night.
“Jon is one of the best athletes I’ve ever seen at his age,” Thompson said. “What is he 20? Seems like has close to a 40-inch vertical and he’s incredibly strong. … When our offense might be bogged down, Jon does a great job of opening the floor because he’s so good at the rim. He’s got a great future.”
When you take into account his defensive versatility – he’s a legit option to cover all five opposing players at any given time – the Warriors have to feel like they got a steal at the No. 7 pick in last year’s NBA Draft.
Bob Myers has made 15 draft selections over the past decade as Warriors general manager. You can make a strong argument that Kuminga is having the biggest impact since Myers’ first pick in 2012 – Harrison Barnes – who also went seventh overall. In Barnes' rookie campaign, he started 81 games while averaging 9.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 43.9 percent from the field. Here’s a look at the list of Myers’ draft picks, via Basketball-Reference.com.
Basketball-Reference.com
Eric Paschall put up some monster rookie stat lines en route to 14.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, but 2019-20 was a lost cause due to Steph Curry’s hand injury and the pandemic-shortened season. Draymond Green put up 16 points and 10 rebounds as a rookie in a playoff series-clinching game against the Denver Nuggets in 2013, but Kuminga has been a much bigger all-around contributor throughout his rookie campaign.
A couple of weeks ago, Warriors coach Steve Kerr told 95.7 The Game’s “Damon & Ratto” that the franchise was “blending two eras together” and Kuminga is the poster child of that movement. He’s the present and the future wrapped up into a Herculean 6-foot-7, 225-pound package.
“JK is getting better every single day,” Kerr said Thursday. “One of the reasons Bob drafted him is because of that athleticism and that power. It’s something that we haven’t really had a lot on our roster. We obviously had a lot of great talent, great skill. But to have that type of power and explosiveness, it’s added a different dimension to our team. The thing that’s exciting to me and to the staff, is just how much JK is picking up as we enter the stretch run. The difference between the start of the season and now is just night and day.”
Kuminga has guarded Nikola Jokic and LeBron James, along with shifty guards over the past few weeks. The Congo native represented the Warriors at the Rising Stars showcase in Cleveland during All-Star weekend. Come playoff time, Kuminga could be a huge weapon for Kerr in his rotation.
