Bad news greeted the Golden State Warriors after their successful 4-1 road trip as fourth-year forward Jonathan Kuminga remains out, according to the NBA official injury report.
Kuminga will miss his 30th game due to a sprained right ankle when the Warriors begin their seven-game home stand against the Detroit Pistons this Saturday, March 8.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr is cautiously optimistic but hinted that Kuminga’s return from his two-month absence isn’t happening this weekend.
“It seems like he’s getting closer. … Scrimmage is good, but he has to feel right. He has to feel explosive. He has to feel healthy and you can’t rush that process,” Kerr said, per San Francisco Chronicle.
The Warriors have all the reason not to rush Kuminga back and risk exposing him to re-aggravating his injury. They have been winning without him.
Since Kuminga went down with the injury, the Warriors are 17-12. But thanks in large part to their trade deadline move to acquire Jimmy Butler, a seasoned and a much better version of Kuminga.
NBA Scout High on Jimmy Butler-Infused Warriors
The Warriors are 10-1 with Butler in the lineup.
Butler is averaging 17.1 points, 5 rebounds and 5.4 assists for the Warriors, who climbed from 11th to sixth seed in the West after the blockbuster trade.
According to a scout who spoke to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, Butler’s addition has made the Warriors a nightmare matchup in the postseason.
“No one will want to play them in the playoffs,” the scout said. “Jimmy with fresh legs and motivation … honeymoon-phase Jimmy is a [expletive] … People way too quickly forgot what Jimmy Butler can do. He’s not a franchise player in that he doesn’t do it in the regular season, but when it comes to the playoffs, he’s a franchise player. He’s a superstar when you need to be winning.”
‘No Setback’ in Jonathan Kuminga’s Recovery
On Tuesday, March 5, Kerr gave more insight on Kuminga’s slow recovery from the injury.
“There’s no setback,” Kerr said on “Willard and Dibs” show on 95.7 The Game. ‘The injury itself was, I think, more serious than anybody realized, and some of these things you just can’t predict. That’s one of the things I’ve learned during my time as coach, working with Rick (Celebrini) and the performance staff. There’s no exact recipe for these injuries, and everybody heals differently.
“And I think, as it’s turned out, JK’s injury was more of a setback than we realized in the beginning, and he’s working hard. He’s working every day at a really good workout today, and it does feel like he’s getting close. But we just got to do the right thing, and that’s what we’re all trying to do.”
The timing of the injury was just unfortunate for Kuminga as he was playing the best stretch of his young NBA career before the untimely injury. He had 17 straight double-digit scoring games, including eight 20-plus-point scoring games. He had three games in which he scored more than 30 points, including a back-to-back career-high 34 in late December.
Over his last 17 games, Kuminga averaged 19.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting 46.7% from the field and 37.3% from the 3-point line. He was the Warriors’ second-leading scorer behind Stephen Curry. Until Butler came along.
It will be fascinating to watch how Kuminga will be re-integrated when he returns from his injury.
