The Golden State Warriors‘ “two-timeline” strategy did not produce a championship this year. The idea, essentially, was that the team could still compete at the highest level right now with its veteran core while bringing along a number of promising young players who can take the baton from Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson whenever that day comes.
The limitations both parts of that strategy have were on display throughout the year, and ultimately, the team just did not have enough to compete this season. Jonathan Kuminga, for example, lost his place in the rotation during the playoffs, and in the team’s Western Conference Finals series against the Los Angeles Lakers, the former No. 7 overall pick appeared in four games and averaged 6.3 minutes per game.
Apparently, Kuminga’s role is going to be a major thing Golden State needs to sort out this summer. According to Anthony Slater and Shams Charania of The Athletic, if the team cannot give him a “full-time role,” the 2021 first-round pick is going to want a change in scenery.
There’s an acknowledgement from the Warriors’ decision makers that some amount of rotation retooling is needed this summer. That could put Kuminga’s future in question. It’s been difficult to fit him into lineup combinations with both Green and Kevon Looney – two non-shooters – and that frontcourt logjam ahead of him is expected to remain in place.
The Warriors and Kuminga’s representatives are expected to discuss his future this offseason, league sources say. Golden State will need to decide whether Kuminga will receive a full-time role moving forward, and, if not, league sources say the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft will want to be somewhere he can play more.
The Warriors have already traded one of the players who was a building block of the two-timeline strategy when they moved James Wiseman in a multi-team deal to bring Gary Payton II back at the trade deadline. Of course, it’s very easy to justify keeping Kuminga, who turns 21 in October, and hoping another year or two of development turns him into the kind of two-way force that would help Curry and co. considerably as they age. But if there is a sense of urgency that prevents the team from waiting for this, perhaps he can be the sort of trade chip that makes the Warriors all-in on winning another championship next season.
During his second year in the NBA, Kuminga appeared in 67 games, with 16 of them coming as a member of the starting lineup. He averaged 9.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 20.8 minutes a night while hitting 37 percent of his attempts from three.