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A strange and strained summer of negotiation could’ve alienated Jonathan Kuminga from all important facets of the Warriors, but he seems more connected than ever to everyone in this franchise.

A tangle of conflicting signals about his place with the team and his interest in finding a larger role elsewhere could’ve made Kuminga something of a nonentity in the locker room and in Steve Kerr’s planning, with a ticking countdown for his eventual exit.

But Kuminga seems happier and more plugged into Kerr’s ethos and guidelines — by a factor of 100 — than at any time in his complicated Warriors career. It just seems simpler: He’s good, he’s maturing, he gets minutes, he plays well, he fits in, he’s trusted.

Yes, at least for now, this seems to be the rarest of NBA developments: What looked like something that would tear things apart has actually created a healthy dynamic for a team that remains unilaterally focused on winning one more title in the Stephen Curry era.

“I wouldn’t want to be the problem to mess it up,” Kuminga told me in the locker room after Tuesday’s victory over the Clippers. “I’m growing. I’m in my fifth year now. I know what winning means. And I know what I want to get — winning a championship.

“There is no bad blood or anything like that. I don’t think there was ever bad blood. It’s just all the narrative, all the talking around outside. But we’re good. We’re good.”

Kuminga was smiling as he said this but clearly miffed that he had to utter the words; that anybody presumed he would sign his two-year, $48 million deal (with only this year’s $23.5 million guaranteed) and not come back committed to whatever helps the team win games.

But it’s not just that Kuminga has been such a good teammate since signing the deal late last month — then turning 23 a few weeks later — it’s that he has played so efficiently and so thoughtfully in these first five games.

It’s that Kerr, who dropped Kuminga from the rotation late last season and into the playoffs because he didn’t fit with the new Jimmy Butler kinetic wave, couldn’t ask for more. And Kerr has wisely rewarded Kuminga by putting him and keeping him in the starting lineup to start this season next to Curry, Butler, and Draymond Green (with a floating fifth spot).

“He’ll be our starter going forward,” Kerr said of Kuminga before Tuesday’s game. “He’s been fantastic. Last night put him on Ja [Morant]. Tonight, we’ll put him on James Harden.

“I think he’s ready to take on that role defensively. And what he’s doing offensively, the decision-making, the shot-selection. We’ve hardly seen any of the mid-shot-clock 17-foot pull-ups. We’ve seen him being much more focused on getting the ball to Jimmy, getting the ball to Steph, attacking the rim. He’s really putting a lot of pressure on people.

“The biggest thing is the combination of Jimmy and Draymond and JK wasn’t great last year. But because of all the improvements that JK has made, his passing and stuff I just mentioned, it’s really clicking.”

Kuminga had a quiet game (compared to his first four) Tuesday, but in its way, his performance was more subtle and even more important because it’s so sustainable.

He didn’t get as many touches or shots, but he kept doing the little and medium things that mean so much to the Warriors. Grabbing loose balls. Hounding Harden on defense. Passing to cutters. Just running. Never looking impatient. Never getting yanked out of the game by Kerr after a bad mistake.

But Kuminga later emphasized that he’s just fine if Kerr barks at him for an error. In fact, Kuminga said he’s told Kerr that he wants to be held accountable, to be told directly, to be able to talk about it, and to sit on the bench for a while when and if these things happen.

“I think we’re just staying on top of communications, me and him — things that I feel or see out there or things that he sees,” Kuminga said. “Our communication has been great, figuring out things.

“I remember some of the things I’ve told him before, like, ‘I’d love you to coach me as hard as you can. Just coach me. Just don’t go away from me, just coach me. No matter the circumstance. I do something bad that I don’t need to do, don’t go away from me. Come tell me that. If you don’t tell me in the middle of the game, send somebody. I want that word coming from you.’

“I’m not going out there trying to do much. There is nights where they’re going to want me to do more and do what I can do. But there’s nights like today, just go out there and do what you’ve gotta do, no matter what’s going on, and stay positive and move on.”

I asked Kuminga: Did you and Kerr maybe need all the summer drama to figure out how much you guys needed to clear the air?

“For what?” Kuminga shot back.

About your role and whether he believes in you.

“I said when I first started talking to you, I told you that I just wanted him to push me more, harder,” Kuminga said. “There is nothing about ‘believing,’ anything about roles, none of that.

“You said, ‘Did we have to clear anything?’ There was nothing to clear. There is no problem between me and Steve. That’s my coach, and I’m his player. I come in every day to win. He’s going to push me hard, and that’s how we’re going to keep going to help the team win.”

The results so far are undeniable. Let’s go through some of them.

• The Warriors weren’t in love with the grueling pace of games to start this season — five in eight days, including two back-to-backs, but they got through it with a 4-1 record, including going 2-0 against the Clippers and Lakers after going 1-7 against the L.A. teams last season.

With Kuminga at full force, suddenly they can tap into his energy at almost any point of the game, a key part of at least two or three of these wins.

• Kuminga is averaging a career-high 30.2 minutes per game but taking only 10.8 shots per, lower than the previous two seasons, when he played a lot less — and averaging a career-high 16.2.

• He’s shooting 52.7% overall, 43.8% from 3-point distance, which is far above his career 33.5% career rate. He’s also taking fewer 3s — one less per 36 minutes than he did last season.

• Kuminga is averaging 7.4 rebounds per game, far above his career 4.1 rebound average.

It’s showing up most significantly on the all-important defense glass, where his rebound rate is up to 21%, from a career rate of 14.7%.

• So far this season, his usage rate is a relatively moderate 21.6%. Last season, one of Kerr’s problems was that Kuminga had one of the highest rates in the league even in a supposed supplementary role: 27.4%. (For comparison, Curry’s usage rate was 29.8%, and Butler’s was 20.6% during his Warriors stint last season.)

• And Kuminga’s time with the crucial threesome of Curry, Butler, and Draymond has yielded pure gold for the Warriors so far. That group has played more than any Warriors four-man unit (72 minutes) and has a +27.3 net rating.

By the way, Kuminga is also on the second-, third-, and fifth-best four-man Warrior units so far this season. (One consequence of starting Kuminga is that Kerr can match his minutes with Curry, which is always a good thing for any player. And that clears the way for a Butler unit when Curry and Kuminga are out.)

And, as Kuminga and Kerr have noted, when Curry, Butler, and Draymond get some nights off (hasn’t happened yet, but it’s coming), Kuminga and the other young players will have even larger roles.

Will this last forever? Probably not. There have been wild ups and downs in this situation for four-plus years already, and there will surely be more to come.

Coincidentally, if this really is a permanent breakthrough for Kuminga, he will become even more interesting and valuable on the trade market in January and February. But if they keep winning, of course, the Warriors would have less incentive to want to trade him. We’ll see how far this goes.

One of the more interesting developments as a side note to this Kuminga situation is that Butler is specifically committed to supporting him and nudging him every day.

“He’s happy; he’s joyful,” Butler said of Kuminga. “He knows that he’s playing at a high level, he knows that everybody wants him to continue to do that. I’m just here to make sure he stays level-headed.”

Wait: Butler as the Warriors’ wise old head for the youngsters? I would not have predicted that at any time before this month, but it’s all true and all right in front of us.

Late Tuesday night, as Butler was on his way to the podium to speak to reporters, he made a point to stop by Kuminga’s locker and ask him about the colorful design on some of his extra shoes. Kuminga smiled, and they chatted for a few seconds — just Butler making sure he was checking in with a player he obviously sees as a key to this season.

“There are so many people that are in his corner — I’m one of them,” Butler said a few minutes later. “There’s so many other individuals in this organization, on this team, this coaching staff as well that want him to be great.

“And it’s OK to make mistakes. You’ve just gotta listen. Sometimes it may not always come off the way that you want it to. But I tell him, I promise, it’s in good faith. Like, nobody’s just yelling at you to yell at you.”

The main theme from Kuminga is that he’s not going to be overly sensitive about his minutes, or even about starting. If Kerr at some point decides to cut down his minutes or take him out of the starting lineup, Kuminga said he will be fine if he is told straight up and if there are good reasons for it.

“I’m not sitting here thinking that I’m going to keep those minutes,” Kuminga said. “I’ve gotta go out there and earn those minutes.

“That’s another thing I told Steve: If it’s not my night, tell me. I won’t get mad. I’ll be a good teammate, as I’ve always been. I’ll support. I’ll do stuff that will help us win.”

It’s a practical relationship, not quite kumbaya forever. But it’s honest and forged by past disconnection, which is better than current disconnection and false pretenses.

For instance, Kerr has mentioned repeatedly that he’d love for Kuminga to pattern his game after that of Shawn Marion, a super-athletic defense-and-rebounding wing and three-time All-Star from the early 2000s.

Your thoughts on the Marion comp, JK?

“I’m just here to win and play basketball,” Kuminga said. “I’m not going to go out there and play like somebody else. I’m just here to win and do what I’ve gotta do to help us win.”

That’s about as matter-of-fact as it gets. And after our conversation, I felt exactly what Kuminga said he’s feeling about his relationship with his coach: It might not always be laughs and hugs, but it’s always better to say the things you feel so that nobody’s guessing and nobody’s making the wrong assumptions.

It’s healthier. It won’t always be perfect. It can get difficult. But when it’s working — as it is for Kuminga, Kerr, and the Warriors right now — you absolutely understand that it’s the only way worth trying.