Jonathan Kuminga Feels Like Golden State Warriors’ Scapegoat Again
According to NBA insider Anthony Slater of ESPN, Jonathan Kuminga feels like the Golden State Warriors’ scapegoat again.
The Warriors are just 9-8 on the season and Kuminga was recently benched again by head coach Steve Kerr.
Kuminga has appeared in 13 games this season. He’s averaging 13.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 47.8% from the field, 32.4% from beyond the arc and 77.1% from the free-throw line.
The 23-year-old Kuminga doesn’t have a good relationship with Kerr, sources told DallasHoopsJournal. The swingman wanted to leave Golden State this offseason and play for the Sacramento Kings.
Kuminga signed a two-year, $48.5 million deal with the Warriors to end his restricted free agency. The second year of the deal, which is a team option, is designed for Golden State — or another team if and when Kuminga is traded — to rip up and construct a new contract next offseason.
Kuminga can be traded after January 15.
“Kuminga, team sources said, had voiced to Kerr a desire to be coached harder,” Slater wrote. “There was even a meeting about it in their Sacramento hotel prior to the ninth game of the season and Kerr appeared to make it a point during the Kings game to call Kuminga over and get on him constructively several times.”
Almost everyone who covers the NBA expects the Warriors to trade Kuminga this season. Jimmy Butler, who has a close relationship with Kuminga, has been a shoulder for Kuminga to lean on.
“Can you just imagine being in a place where — like, I get it — are you wanted here or not?” Butler said. “That’s the worst feeling, man. Can you imagine it? I had to deal with it at the later part [of my tenure] in Miami. It’s like, damn, I’ve been here. What are we talking about? It’s a s—ty place to be in. And no matter what you do, you don’t feel like you’re doing right.
“So he’s got a lot of feelings, which is OK,” Butler continued. “I think I just got to stay on him, though. Let him know that I am in your corner. We all are in your corner. Just breathe. Breathe. We’re not out to get you. I don’t think anybody’s out to get you. Fans or media, maybe. But the people in it, we are not out to get you, bro. I promise you. I promise.”
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