By slowing things down, Jonathan Kuminga has never looked faster

The embattled Jonathan Kuminga’s contentious contract negotiations with the Golden State Warriors during the offseason feels like an eternity ago, yet it has informed the current situation at hand. With Steve Kerr opting to start small in order to limit Al Horford’s playing time, Kuminga has been given the opportunity to start at the four next to Draymond Green, with Jimmy Butler at the three. Historically, this trio has not been a productive one for the Warriors, due to the painfully obvious spacing issues it presents. Steph Curry already operates in somewhat of a phone booth on a nightly basis; putting Butler, Green, and Kuminga next to him wouldn’t, in theory, give him enough room to even operate the phone.

But somehow, someway, this trio has worked wonders — much better than last season, to say the least. Although this configuration only saw 36 minutes of action that did not include low-leverage situations last season, it was outscored by opponents by 24 points per 100 possessions, with difficulty generating efficient offense and possessing an inability to contain opposing offenses, despite their pedigree as defenders. That script has flipped so far this season: outscoring opponents by nearly 30 points per 100 possessions, torching opponents on offense, and keeping opponent scoring to a near-total lockdown.

Kuminga’s willingness to buy in and be in alignment with Kerr and the team’s ethos has played a significant part in that turnaround. It all starts with the littlest details that have all added up to Kuminga exponentially upping his impact on winning. Arguably no other example of such is more apropos than what happened just below the eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ 131-118 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

As the Warriors push the pace and head back on offense, Kuminga receives an entry pass from Brandin Podziemski while being guarded by the much smaller Ja Morant. Naturally, it draws attention toward Kuminga’s side of the floor due to the nature of the mismatch. When a past version of Kuminga would power through and insist on taking advantage of his one-on-one matchup, look at what Kuminga does instead:

Seeing his side of the floor being overloaded with extra defenders, Kuminga points toward Quinten Post, directing him to set a screen on rookie Cedric Coward, who has opted to leave his assignment (Podziemski) alone to show help on the post-up. Kuminga sees the opportunity for Post to catch Coward unawares, while Podz flares away from the strong side. Post does as he’s told — setting the screen on Coward, who makes a desperate attempt to recover back toward Podziemski, who correctly attacks the close-out on his way to a paint floater.

It would be one of Kuminga’s four assists on the night, adding to his grand total of 16 in four games — an average of four per game (4.4 per 75 possessions). Prior to these first four games, Kuminga has never averaged more than 2.2 assists per game (3.3 per 75 possessions). But playmaking and willingness to pass isn’t just measured by raw assist numbers; Kuminga’s intentional passing doesn’t always result in tallied assists, but it does move mountains for the Warriors, who value and preach constant movement of the ball.

Granted, the degree of difficulty is reduced by a significant amount with Curry on the floor. But if winning a game is the long-term goal, what better short-term goal would there be than to find ways to make it easier to get to that desired endpoint? For Kuminga, an example of such would be the knowledge of knowing how to play with Curry, which isn’t an entirely novel concept for him. Curry and he have linked up in the past, most notably through ball-screen actions, whether it’s Curry handling the ball and Kuminga setting the screen or vice-versa in inverted pick-and-roll alignments.

But this one has a different feel to it:

Even while the possession above was challenged and overturned into an offensive foul, it’s the process that counts: Kuminga receiving an opportunity to make a decision in the short roll with Curry drawing two around the screen. Kuminga sees Will Richard cutting along the baseline and hits him with the pass, completing what would’ve been a three-point opportunity (and a fifth assist) had Kuminga not been a victim of momentum.

Kuminga has been a welcomed solution (a partial one, but significant nonetheless) to the age-old Warriors problem of advantage creation beyond Curry, someone who can at the very least draw away bodies from one side of the floor and at most draw two to the ball, as Curry was able to do above. Butler has been the main supplementary advantage generator ever since his arrival in Golden State. Kuminga being able to do so in a tertiary capacity (secondary or even primary in some lineup configurations) only broadens the Warriors’ offensive attack.

For example: Kuminga, intending to power through the middle of the floor after Moses Moody sets the screen, makes his move. Jaren Jackson Jr., having switched onto Moody, opts to close the middle lane by staying put at the nail. This form of gap help is punished by Kuminga simply finding Moody one pass away, forcing Jackson into a tough spot. Moody promptly drills the catch-and-shoot three (one his five on seven attempts in a 20-point performance).

Kuminga has and will always get the opportunity to score — he led the team with 25 points on 71.3% True Shooting against the Grizzlies. The way with which he scored was varied: transition drives, half-court drives, and being fed on the roll after pairing up with Curry. The rim-pressure-starved Warriors suddenly find themselves with a rim-pressure threat who is, in several ways, something that has always been there while also being a breath of fresh air.

The aspect of Kuminga’s play that symbolizes the latter: an ability to slow things down, find the pressure point, and execute accordingly.

All while being active on the boards on both ends of the floor, as evidenced by his 32 total rebounds in four games — an average of eight per game (8.9 per 75 possessions). Prior to these first four games, Kuminga never averaged more than 4.8 rebounds per game (6.6 per 75 possessions). The possession above was triggered by Kuminga’s ninth rebound of the night; he would finish with a total of 10. Already a potent weapon in transition, having Kuminga trigger the fastbreak after hauling in a defensive rebound puts further pressure on a compromised transition defense.

When he adds a subtle nuance to a Buddy Hield drive (i.e., a “Gortat” screen to seal his man and clear the lane for Hield), it only adds to his standing:

With the game slowing down for him, making sure to not be in a rush, and perhaps the greatest lesson learned from an offseason being patience (both on the court and off it, as evidenced by the outcome of contract negotiations), Kuminga has never looked like a faster version of himself, full of confidence and vigor, and having the assurance behind him to help him assure the Warriors that he can be an impactful player on a team hoping to win another championship.