Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section 415 email newsletter here and subscribe to the Section 415 Podcast wherever you listen.
Jonathan Kuminga put up shots on the far left corner court of the Warriors’ practice gym, laughing along with assistant coach Anthony Vereen like nothing’s changed.
But things are a little different now.
For one, Kuminga changed his number from 00 to 1. And, after three months of contentious, public, restricted free-agency negotiations, the 22-year-old wing’s bank account is quite a bit heftier.
What’s the same is that the Warriors expect him to do what’s asked of him when it comes to winning games.
Subscribe to Section 415
News, gossip, and inside-the-locker-room access for Bay Area sports fans, every Friday and Monday.
And Kuminga seems to be all ears.
“Just helping us win, finding a way to help us win,” he said when asked how he views his role. “Both ends: defense, offense. Just find a way to be a piece that’s going to help us win games and hopefully a championship.”
The team welcomed Kuminga back into the fold to start Thursday’s training camp practice. He missed the first two sessions of camp while finalizing his contract, traveling to the Bay Area, and taking his physical. Head coach Steve Kerr plans on sitting down with the forward in the next couple days to get on the same page.
But judging from what Kuminga said in his first media appearance since signing a one-year extension, with a team option for an additional season, it doesn’t appear as if Kerr will have to do much convincing.
“I would tell you ‘betting on myself’ is helping us win a championship,” Kuminga said. “I think that’s our goal; that’s how we all look at it. I’m blessed. I’m glad I got this done. But my mind is not ‘betting on myself.’”
The Warriors’ third-leading scorer last season, Kuminga fell out of Kerr’s rotation after Golden State traded for Jimmy Butler. Kuminga was coming off a severe ankle sprain and struggled to re-acclimate alongside Butler. But when Steph Curry strained his hamstring in the Western Conference semifinals, Kerr dusted off Kuminga, who scored at an elite clip against a stingy Minnesota defense.
The Warriors plan to run their offense through Curry and Butler once again this year but will have to rely on Kuminga on nights when they’re unavailable. Curry, Butler, Draymond Green, and Al Horford are starters over 35 years old who aren’t realistically going to play 70-plus games. There should be ample opportunities for Kuminga to step into a featured role.
Just not a consistent one.
As a restricted free agent, Kuminga was permitted to meet with executives from other teams. He reportedly had conversations with the Kings and Suns as they tried to broker possible sign-and-trade agreements with Golden State. Kuminga called hearing from other teams a “good experience.”
The nature of Kuminga’s contract makes him a likely trade candidate come winter. He’ll be eligible to be traded starting a few weeks before the Feb. 5 deadline.
“I’m here now,” Kuminga said when asked if he wants to be a Warrior long-term. “I mean, that’s everybody’s goal — to be somewhere for longer. You never know [how] your future’s determined. But so far, I think that’s my goal, and that’s what I want to accomplish: being here for longer.”
A summer-long standoff between Kuminga and the Warriors’ front office delayed Golden State’s other business. But right around the start of training camp, the team signed Kuminga, Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton, Seth Curry, and Gary Payton II — fortifying the roster with shooting and athleticism from its preferred free-agent targets.
“It was weird,” Seth Curry said of the long offseason. “I’ve never seen in my career a team kind of already knowing what they have but not making it official for a couple months. We’re here now and ready to rock.”
Kuminga didn’t attend Butler’s late-September team-bonding meetup in San Diego, as his contract situation was still unresolved. He spent the summer in Miami, Cleveland, and other locales training with those close to him. His camp stressed throughout the summer how much Kuminga has improved, and agent Aaron Turner often posted videos of him working out. That’s how general manager Mike Dunleavy kept tabs on Kuminga’s progress, he said.
Rejoining the team, Kuminga wanted to pick a new number to signify a fresh start. He considered a “crazy” number and almost settled on 55, because that’s what his personal photographer and confidant Eye G wore as a player. But Eye G talked him out of it, Kuminga said, so he settled on No. 1.
Kuminga’s teammates expect him to separate this summer’s business from basketball and be committed. He said nothing that would suggest the contrary.
“Someone that’s going to be impactful,” Kuminga said when asked what type of player he wants to be. “Contribute to success, to winning. And I think nobody comes to this gym every day and doesn’t think about winning a championship. And I’m not just saying that because I’m in front of you guys. I’m going into my fifth year. I know what I want and what I don’t want. And I think me just being around this team for that long and seeing everything, looking at everything we’re trying to accomplish every year, it’s nothing but championships. So I feel like I’m at that level of commitment. Growth-wise, that’s where I need to be: I need to mark my name as somebody who helps this team win a championship.”