Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga has not played in eight of Golden State’s last nine games.
NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins believes reversing that trend can fix the Warriors.
“The Warriors are broken!!!!” Perkins wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after the Warriors’ 141-127 overtime loss to the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
“One day Steve Kerr is going to realize that you need size and athleticism “Kuminga” to compete against the good teams in the League.”
Kuminga started the first 12 games of the season before coach Steve Kerr made changes to the starting lineup following a blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in November. The 23-year-old forward exited the following game due to a knee injury, causing him to miss the next seven games.
Kuminga then struggled to find his footing after his return, averaging just 7.8 points in his next four games played. He has been mostly absent from the rotation since.
“It’s tough because he’s not really a short-minute player,” Kerr told reporters after the Warriors’ 120-107 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday. “I played a bunch of guys eight, 10 minutes. JK is a guy who needs rhythm – he’s not like a Gui [Santos] who’s going to come in or Pat [Spencer] and just fly around and play with great energy for four minutes and come out – he needs some rhythm.”
“So, he always has to stay ready and there’s a pathway there. But right now, it’s not there, but things change quickly in the NBA.”
In Kuminga’s 18 games played, the Warriors are 9-9 with a +0.3 net rating. In the 15 games without the young forward, the Warriors are 8-7 with a +3.3 net rating.
In his last appearance, Kuminga scored two points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field while also grabbing four rebounds against the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 13. He logged 9:31 of playing time.