The Golden State Warriors are off to a good start in the Jimmy Butler era, picking up a pair of road wins against the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks in Butler's first two games with the team. The Warriors have done that despite playing without key wing Jonathan Kuminga, who has been out with an ankle injury.
When the Warriors take the floor in Dallas against the Mavericks on Wednesday night, Kuminga will still be sidelined. He is listed as out on the official NBA injury report due to that right ankle sprain. Big man Kevon Looney, who is dealing with a broken nose, is available, so the Warriors will have the rest of their team healthy and ready to go.
Kuminga last played on Jan. 4 when he originally injured that ankle against the Memphis Grizzlies, so it has been about five weeks since he has last played. The G League Ignite product has resumed on-court activities at practice, so he is nearing a return.
Kuminga will also miss Thursday's game against the Houston Rockets, which is the second night of a road back-to-back before the All-Star break. Following that game, the Warriors have seven days off before their next game. That should give Kuminga the time he needs to finish recovering and hit the ground running after the break.
Having Kuminga healthy and firing is key for the Warriors as they come down the stretch this season. He is a great slasher and a very good athlete who can open up the floor for Stephen Curry and others, and he can apply pressure on the rim in a way similar to Jimmy Butler. For the season, Kuminga is averaging 16.8 points and five rebounds per game.
Getting Kuminga into the lineup sooner rather than later would be a huge benefit for the Warriors because they need as much time as possible for everybody to gel with Butler before the postseason gets going.
It would be ideal for them to get everyone to mesh with Butler right away and allow Steve Kerr to have a full rotation to work with. With Kuminga seemingly close to a return, Golden State could have everybody on the floor together very soon.
