Jonathan Kuminga’s role, Warriors trades, and other NBA questions

of golden state warriors They’re on track and have a season-best five-game winning streak. Double OT Thriller for Monday Theaters triumphant Atlanta HawksAnd they did it all while Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins were absent.

Off days seemed like the perfect day for a mailbag, and we got a lot of good questions about it. Let’s dive into them.

It depends on who you call “young players”. Will Jordan Poole be included in this exercise? If so, he. He played at an All-Star rate late last season, but he was only 22 years old. A bump up the road this year, let’s not forget he could be 25 points and 6 assists per night. 60% true shooting guy who is an easy all star.

If you limit “young players” to first-, second-, and third-year players, then… um… Gi Santos?

Jokes aside, in my eyes it’s Jonathan Kuminga. Kuminga is already becoming a significant part of the bench unit and can’t legally drink for another 10 months. We could see JK make the All-Star Game as a scorer, as a defensively-minded player, or as an early-career Andre Iguodala-style can-do-anything super-athlete. Kuminga has a long way to go to become a star in this league.

I do not think. The Warriors didn’t even connect with other free agents in the offseason despite having an open roster spot. Whatever problems the dub has, DeMarcus Cousins, LaMarcus Aldridge and Carmelo Anthony haven’t fixed them.

The Warriors may sign buyout players, but they won’t sign players who are currently free agents unless Kevon Looney is seriously injured. I could see him picking up leaflets.

One very big reason. Because the Warriors still intend to play Iguodala in a big way when the game matters most. Iguodala doesn’t get the Udonis Haslem treatment. He’s not playable, so he’s not sidelined. He is sidelined because he wants to carry him into a bulletproof glass case that the Pope rides in until the game becomes more important.

Remember: Iguodala played an average of 19.5 minutes per game last year when healthy, but it wasn’t because he wasted his time. If he can come into April in good health, he’s likely to play a big role off the bench.

Sadly, the magic of Draymond Sleen last season hasn’t continued this season. Dubs went from 20-1 in games (including the playoffs) where Dray made his 3, a year later he’s only 11-5 in 2022-23. But when he makes multiple threes, they’re him 4-0.

There is a risk of using copout answers, but getting healthy will help you the most. Having more firepower to deal with late adjustments will help the third quarter, but shifting better players to his unit on the bench will help maintain the first quarter lead. increase.

Beyond that, sloppiness has been a dub problem of the last decade and is now exacerbated in the face of adversity. and to be more calm. Now they’re starting to act like separation-anxious dogs at big parties, which turns into many inexcusable turnovers and hasty three-points.

I hope our fine film analyst Joe Viley will analyze this one day.

My point is that off-ball defense usually takes more time for younger players to learn than on-ball defense. , it is a given. But here he has seen his game start to slow down in a month or two. He’s still getting his vision to tunnel at both ends of the court, but he’s improving quickly.

Kuminga has all the tools to become a stud help defender. He has a dynamic first step, can fly out of the gym, and has great range. He can cover ground faster than anyone on his team and has great body control. At this point, all that remains is to continue working. Dubs has been very visibly impressed with how dedicated he has been to defense after a difficult start to the season, which will be reflected in his off-ball play in the coming weeks, months and years. There is no reason to think that it will not.

It’s hard to say with certainty what the role of Moses Moody will be in the future, because we’ve often seen the player’s role change fairly quickly with Steve Kerr. Has been in Carr’s kennel for almost a year and has trouble seeing him get out of there.

Moody hasn’t been bad this year, but he hasn’t been particularly good either. The Warriors seem to want more than that.

As for Anthony Lam’s potential conversion, so far it feels like a toss-up between him and Ty Jerome. But Curry’s absence was more important…and more importantly, Curry is more prone to injury than Wiggins.

I’m in the minority here, but assuming the team is perfectly healthy, I don’t think either player will play a role in the rotation when the playoffs are near. DiVincenzo gets a roster spot if he wants injury insurance, and Lamb gets a roster spot if he wants Wiggins, Iguodala or Kuminga injury insurance.

It’s very difficult to think of who to do business with because you don’t know who can do it and at what price. I don’t see the Warriors making any trades at this point… I think the only player they might be considering to trade is Moody.

As for my favorite memory of 2022…if you’re only counting calendar years, not seasons, it must have been Klay Thompson’s return to the court a year ago. What an incredibly special moment it was, especially when he hit it all over the Cavaliers organization.

By working hard defensively, studying veterans and getting ready for 2023-24. He has no way into the rotation this season.

Yeah that’s the problem at the moment. I think his two tweets from last night’s game (one from me and one from Nate Duncan) explain the problem.

Poole is trying a little too hard to run the offense, especially without Curry. 2 For a young player who started his career as a guard, this is a natural stumbling block and not much of a surprise. That’s something he really needs to work on, and I think he will.

It’s hard to say without knowing what the deal is, but I don’t think so. Given Dub’s lack of assets, an influential player will probably not be available.

Another issue with midseason trading is that we’ve seen how difficult it is for players to understand the system. DiVincenzo is starting to find his rhythm in the system after a few months. JaMychal Green was showing signs before he got sick. The odds of finding an impactful player who is actually obtainable and who can get used to the system before the playoffs is pretty slim in my eyes.

This is probably the best mailbag question I’ve ever received and I really hope people have fun answering it in the comments. , is useless here.

I was a child of Magic, The Gathering. sue me

I want to end on a positive note! I pick up two big positive lessons.

The first is that the Warriors are elite at home. They have the best record in the league (17-2) and his second-best net rating (+10.8), with Curry his five at home, Wiggins his seven, It did so despite Klay missing his three games. Why is it so positive for me? Because it shows what the Warriors are capable of. Being elite at home doesn’t solve big problems on the road, but it does show that they are great.Most teams hovering around .500 average it going. The Warriors were half great, half terrible. But the good thing about being great half the time is that it proves there is greatness in you. It’s very clear that there are ship teams…they just need to be visited more often.

Second, Clay finds his rhythm quickly. Forgetting to win makes me happy as a fan and someone who loves watching fun and entertaining basketball, but even if Klay recovers only 90% of his pre-injury performance, the team’s It’s very helpful to have the ugly start of the season reflected in your rearview mirror.

I think the one that left the biggest impression on me was Kuminga. JK has been in a very difficult position, being chosen by lottery by competing teams. He didn’t get the chance to play the glamorous roles played by the likes of Scotty Burns, Josh Guiddy, Franz Wagner, Cade Cunningham, and Jalen Greene. They are forced to apply their veteran knowledge, and they meet the challenge quite well.

Coming into the league, Kuminga felt like a player who could be both a star and a bust…now he’s proving that he can maintain that star potential while also being a great role player.

It’s fun to watch.