Steve Kerr, Warriors still hope the best for Jonathan Kuminga as Atlanta reunion awaits – The Athletic
DETROIT — Steve Kerr still wants Jonathan Kuminga to succeed. He always did. He believes in his talent. He still believes that talent can blossom in the NBA, but the professional relationship between the athletic 23-year-old swingman and the Golden State Warriors just didn’t work.
There are a variety of reasons why that was the case, but as the 60-year-old coach watched Thursday’s practice unfold, he continued to speak highly of the person Kuminga is and the player he hopes he will continue to become.
Kerr understands better than anyone else the highs and lows the relationship experienced over the last five years because he lived each one of them every day. The Warriors hoped Kuminga would develop into a player they could depend on in their chase for a fifth championship during Stephen Curry’s reign. Kuminga wanted to become the type of star he always believed he could be. Kerr understands how passionate a portion of the fan base was — and still is — in its devotion to the soft-spoken young man from the Congo.
The partnership reached its end with a trade demand, which led to the Warriors sending Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks just before last month’s trade deadline in exchange for Kristaps Porziņģis. When asked about what goes through his mind the most in advance of Saturday’s reunion game against Kuminga in Atlanta, Kerr answered through the lens of a coach trying to navigate his own team through a losing skid at the end of a long season.
“To be honest,” Kerr told The Athletic with a chuckle, “I haven’t given it much thought because we’re trying to win a damn game. But I can tell you that everybody likes JK. Everybody on our team wants the best for him. I want the best for him.”
The relationship between Kerr and Kuminga has been well documented. Kuminga wanted more of a consistent role within the Warriors, while Kerr, coming off his fourth NBA title in 2022, was trying to do everything he could to win another before Curry’s championship window expired. Kuminga became a lightning rod of interest and controversy during his time with Golden State, and his presence continues to loom over the organization even after leaving.
The biggest takeaway — even weeks after Kuminga got the trade he had been seeking for months, and a viewpoint shared by supporters on both sides of the argument — is that Kuminga could never become the star he wanted to be next to future Hall of Famers Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler.
As Kerr looks back with the benefit of even more perspective, he does so with empathy for the situation. The Warriors drafted the then-18-year-old Kuminga with the seventh pick in the 2021 Draft.
“I think this is part of the modern NBA,” Kerr said. “You’re getting guys who are so inexperienced. I will tell you, the optimal circumstance for JK when he entered the NBA would have been to go to a bad team. Instead, he came to a championship team. But the way to develop in this league is to play 30, 35 minutes every night, make your mistakes, learn from your mistakes, grow, be able to do it out of the spotlight. And he wasn’t able to do any of those things (here), and I recognize that. That’s why I’m really hoping that the change in scenery will be what he needed.”
In a small sample size, Kuminga has responded well to his new basketball address. He scored 44 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, and dished out seven assists in his first two games as a Hawk against the tanking Washington Wizards. He has followed that up by averaging 11.3 points and 7.3 rebounds over four games this month. Most importantly for his development, he has averaged over 20 minutes a game during his brief Atlanta tenure after playing in just six games in his final two months as a Warrior.
Kuminga, even after all the flashes of talent he showed throughout the years, never quite fit within the Warriors’ framework. Porziņģis, on the other hand, has done that well when he’s been healthy enough to play. The 30-year-old big man is averaging 17.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and three assists in almost 23 minutes a game over five games this month after missing six games because of an illness. While it remains to be seen whether both players can stay healthy for their respective teams — Kuminga won’t play Friday night against the Houston Rockets because of a lingering knee issue that has caused him to miss time — Kerr believes that the deal could be one of the rare NBA trades that works out for both teams.
“I think the trade was a good one,” Kerr said. “Both guys are very talented. I think everything in the NBA is circumstantial. I think players need the right set of circumstances to thrive. And the trade made sense because these were not the right circumstances for JK. And you can see right away that Kristaps has a very clear role on this team, something we’ve needed for years. And we’re looking forward to getting him out there with Steph. And so in the end, hopefully it’s a trade that works for both guys and both teams.”
Kristaps Porziņģis is averaging 17.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and three assists in almost 23 minutes a game for his new team. (Brad Mills / Imagn Images)
Kerr said he still checks the box score to see how Kuminga is doing. That’s the same thing he does for other players from the past — including Hield and Trayce Jackson-Davis, who was traded to the Toronto Raptors last month after the Warriors acquired Porziņģis. Kerr believes Kuminga can still find his way in the league because it took Kerr several teams and experiences to create his own path.
“I think that’s the biggest thing with JK,” Kerr said. “And I know there’s all this chatter about the trade and discussion about everything, but this is how the NBA works. Like, look at all the other guys who have been drafted in the lottery over the years. And the vast majority end up moving from one team to the next. Very few end up becoming a star and sticking with their team. I would venture — I’ve never done this — but just go look at every No. 7 pick in the history of the NBA. Most of them probably played on multiple teams.”
It’s why even after Kuminga’s departure, Kerr remains hopeful that the young forward can find his way in a new environment — a sentiment shared by his former teammates.
Butler, speaking for the first time since tearing the ACL in his right knee on Jan. 19, was recently asked what it was like to experience the trade deadline from a distance — and whether he was looped into the possibilities the organization was exploring.
Instead, he took the question in a different direction.
“I’m not looped in,” Butler said. “Like I always tell everybody, that’s not my job. But, yeah, you see where guys go, you see how guys are playing right now. So I’m sure that your next question’s about to be answered.”
Butler, whose name and contract popped up in trade speculation when the Warriors tried to acquire Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo before the deadline, was being asked to address his own situation. He chose to answer about Kuminga.
“I like the way JK’s been playing,” Butler continued. “I think he’s been doing well.”
Butler was one of Kuminga’s most vocal supporters as he went through a long summer marked by prolonged contract negotiations and internal tension. Their connection carried through Kuminga’s final moments and even now.
“He’s smiling. He’s playing at a high level,” Butler said. “I would think that’s what everybody wants from him anyways, whether they’re in his team, or whether they’re here. They want him to be the best version of himself, I believe that.”
As the Warriors prepare to see Kuminga for the first time as an opponent, Kerr understands why the reunion carries so much weight.
“This is kind of how the NBA works,” Kerr said. “I recognize that, and I take my share of the blame in that. And ultimately, I’m hopeful that whether it’s Atlanta or somewhere else that he finds his way in the NBA and has a great career, takes care of his family, because JK is a really good guy.”
For Kerr, the emotions tied to Kuminga’s time in Golden State haven’t disappeared — they’ve shifted. And on Saturday, with both of them hopefully on the same floor again, there will be a new chapter addition to the book that remains a long way away from its ending.
