Former Timberwolves guard cautions Jonathan Kuminga on sticking with 'burning house' Warriors amid contract limbo
Former Minnesota Timberwolves guard Rashad McCants expressed his sentiments about Jonathan Kuminga sticking with the Golden State Warriors. Kuminga is entering his final year in his four-year rookie contract worth $24.85 million and is rumored to be in talks of an extension. If he decides not to re-sign with the Warriors then he will be a restricted free agent in 2025.
Given the Warriors' current lineup, McCants thinks Kuminga should consider leaving the team. McCants appeared on Gilbert Arenas' web show to explain his thoughts regarding Kuminga.
"I'm really going to stand firm on [Jonathan Kuminga] getting out of the burning house," McCants said. "Playing sixth man role for [Golden State Warriors] if they would've kept Klay [Thompson], it just feels bad. It just doesn't look good."
McCants then pointed out how limited Kuminga's game is by not having a solid jump shot in his bag of tricks. McCants noted that it'll be difficult to score from slashing alone.
"It's like three non-shooters on the floor. [Kuminga], Draymond, and then the center. Then you just got Steph [Curry] and [Andrew] Wiggins. If we're going to say that he's a slasher and that's going to be something that in the league you need and you can get 20-25 [points] a game off slashing, like show me the other slashers that's doing it that don't got jumpers."
Will Jonathan Kuminga's style suffice for the Warriors?
The Golden State Warriors have established themselves to be among the, if not the best shooting team in the league. This is due to the bar Steph Curry and Klay Thompson set during their "Splash Brothers" era. However, some non-shooters like Draymond Green managed to provide efficient support for the team despite lacking a jump shot in their arsenal.
The same goes for Jonathan Kuminga, who's averaging below 40% from the three-point line in his career. While his career average of 52.4% shooting overall seems promising, the majority of those shots come from attacking the paint. Having a slasher on the team is undoubtedly a must. But in today's NBA, most teams rely on making jumpers regardless of distance.
With that in mind, the Warriors seem to be in trouble with only a few shooters left on their roster. The question now is, can their new lineup of non-shooters help the team bring back its elite status?
Looking at Kuminga's performance in this year's preseason games, it seems he didn't struggle to create shot opportunities for himself. He averaged 13.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game within 21.3 minutes of play out of six games. The most he scored was against the Sacramento Kings when he dropped 19 points.
While it may be too early to tell since it was a preseason game, his performances seemed promising. Jonathan Kuminga's contributions helped the team notch an undefeated streak in the preseason games.
If Kuminga could consistently provide high scoring numbers with his style of play while playing for the Warriors, then the team shouldn't worry about him not being able to efficiently contribute on offense.