Jonathan Kuminga has and will continue to be the biggest talking point surrounding the Golden State Warriors heading into the offseason, with the fourth-year forward set to become a restricted free agent.
An inconsistent role and playing time again plagued Kuminga throughout the postseason, only for him to surge and lead the team in scoring over the final four games after Stephen Curry went down with a hamstring injury.
The complications between Kuminga's playstyle and that of the Warriors has long been a source of discussion, with those concerns further aired by head coach Steve Kerr in a recent interview with Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard.
Steve Kerr has compared Jonathan Kuminga to Aaron Gordon
Not only did Kerr label Kuminga a "ball dominant player" and admit that the "fit is tricky" as a result, but he also mentioned Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon as a player the 22-year-old may try and emulate moving forward.
“You know, he spent years in Orlando where he was, you know, he really wanted to be the scorer and the lead guy and had some success like JK has, but maybe didn't really find his role and find himself until later. And I think that's kind of the hope," Kerr said.
The Gordon comparison is certainly an intriguing one, but in other words Kerr doesn't see Kuminga developing into the sort of multi-time All-Star that the young forward probably envisions for himself. That's not to disparage Gordon who is one of the best and most highly valued role players in the league, but it's not necessarily who Kuminga wants to become right now.
If he did develop into a Gordon-type player in time, then that would be a very good result and lead to a long and productive career where he'd make a lot of money. Yet given he's just 22, Kuminga likely wants to spread his wings and truly explore all of his potential before settling into something different.
Gordon only did it after spending 6.5 years in Orlando as a former fourth overall pick, having then been traded to the Nuggets as a 25-year-old. If this comparison truly is an apt one, then Golden State can't wait another few years for Kuminga to realize that his calling is as a Gordon-type high-level role player.
Will he come to realize this by next season? Unlikely. Therefore it would be up to Kerr and the Warriors in a position to try and reach his potential, something that too is unlikely given the head coach also stated, "right now he's not a guy who I can say, I'm going to play 38 minutes with the roster that we have."
These comments have done nothing to inspire confidence that Kuminga will be back with the Warriors next season, and if anything only serves as further proof that he'll be moving on from the franchise this summer.
