In a shocking late-season twist, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has opted to leave Jonathan Kuminga out of the rotation, giving him healthy DNP’s in a few must-win games for the Warriors.
Golden State was able to pull off the play-in game win against the Memphis Grizzlies without Kuminga recording any playing time. Warriors forward Draymond Green, however, revealed to Anthony Slater of The Athletic what’s next for Kuminga as the Warriors get ready to take on the No. 2 seed Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs.
“He’ll contribute,” Green said of Kuminga’s role for the Houston series. “He’s great, he’s getting his work in. That’s all you can do in that situation is get your work in. He’ll be meaningful for us in that series, I have zero doubt about that. The challenge for him is to stay mentally engaged, as for anyone in that situation. But I have zero doubt in my mind that he’s going to help us in this series.”
Did Green accidentally leak Golden State’s playoff game plan, or is he simply supporting a young player on the roster and giving him some confidence moving forward? It’s hard to tell, but Green leaving “zero doubt” that Kuminga will be a contributor would lead one to believe that he’ll play actual minutes at some point during the series.
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Given all the athletic wings and forwards the Rockets have in their rotation, you can see the logic behind Kuminga getting a chance once again. Kuminga had previously been an important part of Golden State’s rotation, averaging 24 minutes a game across 47 appearances in the regular season this year, but the young forward received a DNP against the Los Angeles Clippers on the last day of the regular season and a DNP against the Grizzlies in the play-in game win for the Warriors.
The Warriors will travel to Houston for Game 1 of the first-round playoff series on Sunday.
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