Kuminga is a problem for the Warriors and Kerr, and Butler is trying to reconcile it

Anthony Slater

ESPN

While Jimmy Butler was attending a cricket event in Marbella, Spain, in mid-September, he reached out to Jonathan Kuminga.

The next week, Butler organized a player gathering at his home in San Diego. He hopes everyone will come, especially Kuminga not to be absent, because in Butler's heart, he thinks Kuminga is a good person with top basketball talent, and he hopes to train with him alone.

"I like him so much," Butler told ESPN. "I know he has a lot of fans, but I am his biggest fan. He has all the elements to become a great player. He just needs Bole to teach him how to use that talent."

Kuminga called Butler to tell Butler the bad news that his contract extension negotiations with the Warriors were still stalled. The contract gambit for restricted free agents could continue into training camp. He's not going to San Diego. His relationship with the Warriors' management is too unreliable and uncertain.

"Okay, bro," Butler told Kuminga. "You just need to do what you think is best. I understand your situation very well. I don't think there is hostility among the players in the Warriors lineup. I will support you. I see myself in you."

Kuminga finally started his fifth season with the Warriors. The games in the first four weeks of the season can reflect the twists and turns of Kuminga's career. He has played highlight moments, helped the Warriors get a 4-1 start, and won enough favor from head coach Cole. Kerr even opened up about Kuminga being the undisputed starter.

"I think he's ready," Kerr said. "His enthusiasm for rebounding and his aggressiveness in attacking the basket make him unique on the court. When he plays with talent like that, he makes our entire team look brand new."

But life is always full of variables.

The Warriors lost five of their next seven games. Kuminga's turnovers soared and his performance was poor. In order to adjust the lineup, Cole put Kuming on the bench. This opened up old wounds in Kuminga.

"He feels like he's been made the scapegoat again," a team source revealed.

Curry was less motivated and less efficient in the past seven games due to the flu. However, when he regained his form, he scored 46 and 49 points respectively in the two games in San Antonio, leading the Warriors to three consecutive victories. However, at this moment, Kuminga has become a supporting role as he is helplessly dealing with a knee injury. This has triggered a new round of debate about Kuminga's suitability and future.

"Kuminga not starting is not the reason why we won," Butler said. "We just played better basketball. Our roles were clearer. We hit shots. We defended hard. None of this has anything to do with Kuminga's presence or absence. If Kuminga was in the starting lineup, I believe we could still win these games."

For the Warriors, in order to reach their best form this season, there is a consensus within the team: Even if Kuminga is in a restricted role, he must put aside some of his pent-up dissatisfaction and return to the beginning of the season as an influential wing as soon as possible. Even in the long run, this is more about the improvement of transaction value for both parties than a stable cooperative relationship.

Kuminga cannot be traded before January 15th, which means that this unstable relationship will last at least two months. In order to successfully solve this problem, many people within the team and around Kuminga have acquiesced in the fact that only Butler can solve the problem and restore stability to the locker room.

"I feel like he's one of the few people in this league who can relate to me," Kuminga said. "He knows what I'm going through."

After a recent home game, Butler invited Kuminga to his house for dinner. During the team's recent road trip, he took Kuminga out again.

"I realized he was listening to me," Butler said. "He respects me. I don't take that for granted. But I often tell him the hard truth. When Kuminga makes some mistakes, I will tell him, man, don't do that next time."

Butler discussed his career with Kuminga. That includes Butler's time with the Bulls early in his career. That was a far cry from Kuminga’s experience. Butler played four years in college and was 22 years old when he entered the NBA. Kuminga just celebrated his 23rd birthday before the start of his fifth NBA season.

At different stages of life growth, they encountered similar experiences. When he was with the Bulls, Butler hoped to gain more offensive authority, but he realized that due to the team's existing stable order, it was impossible for him to break the original labels and perspectives.

"I think there comes a time in everyone's career when they're about to get promoted. You know, you have the ability to overcome it," Butler said. "But there are always some people who will knock you down and say something like, 'You're not ready at all.' But you know yourself very well. You know the time has come. At that time, I was in this stage."

Friction and conflict are normal in the NBA, especially in the summer, after going through contract negotiations that made everyone unhappy.. As another team source put it, it's difficult to recover from a slump in a season when players feel like they're "part of the bargaining chip."

"(Ambition) embarrasses everyone," Butler said. "For teammates, a sudden change in positioning will be difficult to accept. For fans, they will doubt your ability. For coaches, everything is a disruptive change. But I firmly believe that Kuminga has the potential to become a star."

"But at the same time, I think Dream Green will always knock him. . He said, 'Hey, you asked for it. 'So, the things they said - the good, the bad, the indifference - you can't let it affect your performance."

Kuminga's 92-day contract negotiation ended suddenly within 48 hours of training camp. He signed the contract and accepted an up-and-down bench role. But Horford's reduced playing time and Moody's calf injury opened a door for Kuminga. Through a positive attitude and a strong performance in training camp, he earned himself a starting job in the opener.

Throughout the summer, Cole had doubts about the starting combination of Kuminga, Butler and Dream Green. In 105 minutes of playing time last season, this lineup gave up by at least 36 points.

"I'm going to be skeptical of this lineup until I buy it from the bottom of my heart," Kerr told ESPN. "Even in the first half of the opener, this lineup didn't work well."

Kerr said he got mad at the team during halftime of the opener in Los Angeles. The spacing and offensive fluidity issues caused by Butler, Green and Kuminga are clearly evident on the court. But in the third quarter, things changed.

"It's a matter of synergy with Curry," Kerr said. "I remind the whole team that every time you put a screen for Curry, and then the pick-and-roll pops up, or the air-cut is down, the offense will naturally flow. Kuminga played very smart in the second half. He completed a backdoor layup. His sudden air-cut after the screen penetrated the Lakers' defense. He popped out of the three-point line, Made the shot. And then, we won the game. It was like, great, we played really well in the second half, but there was no sense from the beginning to the end of, 'Great, this is how we should play.'"

Two days later, the Warriors faced the Denver Nuggets. Before the game, Cole told Green that his original intention was to have Quentin Post start the game against Jokic, thereby reducing Green's consumption at the beginning of the season.

"Chasing, this is the big lineup plan we discussed," Kerr remembers telling Green.

"Okay, so who does this cost him the starting spot?" Green asked Cole.

"It's most likely Kuminga," Cole answered truthfully.

"Then let me play center," Green said. "I hope Kuminga can maintain the momentum."

Kuminga played 36 minutes in that game, and the Warriors won the Nuggets in overtime. In the final stage of the game, the Warriors expanded their lineup and used a lineup of "Curry, Butler, Kuminga, Green and Horford". This lineup was never even practiced in practice. Kuminga kept guarding Jamal Murray at the end of the game. That was the second time in 11 consecutive games that he grabbed 5 rebounds.

"He did everything we asked him to do," Green said. "When a player has completed all his tasks, you can't take him out of the starting lineup."

A day later, Kerr publicly stated that he planned to put Kuminga into the starting lineup in the fourth quarter regardless of the matchup arrangement on the field. It was a sign that Kuminga was gradually gaining everyone's trust and landing the stable role he so desperately craved.

"It does mean a lot to him," Kerr admitted during shootaround in Milwaukee before the Warriors' sixth game of the season.

Due to the many exchanges and on-field actions between Kuminga and Butler, Cole did gain a little confidence. As strange as the starting pairing is, it does have the potential to work. Over the summer, Kuminga maintained that he learned a lot from being next to Butler during their second-round playoff series with the Timberwolves. At that time, he entered the Warriors' starting lineup when Curry was injured and absent.

"I don't think Kuminga accepted the tactical concept last season. We hope he can attack the basket. I hope he will not take mid-range shots when the offense is about to expire. When Dream Chaser is not on the court and Butler is on the court, we hope he can go to the 'cake position' under the basket," Kerr said.

Throughout training camp, Butler pulled Kuming aside to help him understand the nuances of the game. They began to bond off the court. Kuminga found Butler's playing career inspiring. A power wing who, in his own way, became a dominant scorer and never took "no" for an answer.

Before the season, Cole and Kuminga had a constructive conversation. Kerr said Kuminga told him: "I want you to know that I have been training the way Butler does. I am ready to play with Butler. I know that I can complete the cooperation with him."

In the first five games of the season, Butler and Kuminga played 86 minutes together, and the Warriors outscored their opponents by a total of 40 points.

"Kuminga himself decided to play this way, and then Butler decided to help him," Kerr said. "For a coach like me, winning can solve any problem."

The Warriors experienced two bad away losses. They lost to the Bucks without Antetokounmpo and the Pacers who lacked a rotation. The veterans didn't play well, and Kuminga's defense was equally unsatisfactory on two nights. In the NBA, losing streaks create pressure.

Sources within the team revealed that Kuminga hopes that Cole can coach him in a more severe way. They even held a small meeting at a hotel in Sacramento before the Warriors' ninth game of the season. During the game against the Kings, Kerr called Kuminga over and scolded him several times.

The record of 4 wins and 1 loss eventually became 6 wins and 6 losses. Kuminga's knee injury started to bother him. His defensive intensity and his explosiveness at the basket have all declined. In the home game against the Pacers, Kuminga made only 1 of 9 shots and missed all 5 of his three-point attempts. Coaches repeatedly berated him for his outside shot selection, which led to a reduction in his playing time (a season-low 20 minutes). But both Butler and Kuminga pointed out that Kuminga's eight rebounds were a positive factor.

Curry missed three games due to illness. Without Curry, the Warriors' offense stalled. Although Curry returned in Oklahoma, he struggled in his only 20 minutes of playing time. The defending champion slaughtered the Warriors. Kuminga accounted for five of the team's 21 turnovers. Kerr and the veterans decided it was time to adjust their game strategy. Cole lined up a new starting lineup including Moody and Richard. Green said it's hard to turn things around when you're on a losing streak.

"We have to find a way to win around Curry, Butler and Green," Kerr said. "That's the key to winning in this league. Every team has their two or three best players. How can you better support them and improve their performance?"

Butler firmly believes that winning can cure everything. Therefore, he has been helping Kuminga develop the habit of winning games-continue to defend hard, rush for rebounds, control turnovers, try to get to the free throw, hit the shot at the right time, and, when needed, return to the bench.

But Butler also expressed the view of strategic adjustments: Regardless of whether Curry is absent or not, the players on the field are easy to execute and perform better together. Perhaps, switching to a more aggressive and structured singles system is more suitable for Butler and Kuminga's game skills.

"When Curry is on the court, it's a completely different situation than when Curry isn't there, but when I'm on the court," Butler said. "If you still play Curry's game, it's not going to work. No one needs to overreact to the other person. I'm not going to say, 'No, we shouldn't play like that.' What I'm saying is, Curry plays like he's cheating."

"So, It's unfair for anyone to say they can't play with a certain lineup because anyone can play with that guy."

Kuminga missed the last four games of the road trip because of a knee injury. He could return at some point after three or four practices over the next five straight home games. Green said that could be an ideal time to bring Kuminga back into the system.

"Guess what we can do for him when he comes on as a substitute?" Green said. "Reuse him. This is what he wants. But it does take time. He injured his knee and has not participated in training yet. So, let him get healthy first, and then we will work together. This is a long season, and he will help us win many games."

Butler expressed a similar view.

"Beyond that, I think, he has to realize that there's more to the game of basketball than just scoring," Butler said. "I don't mind putting him back on the bench and letting him do what he's good at. I can stay under the basket and dunk, and I can cover for my teammates. I don't mind. But you know, what should we do best?"

Limit mistakes?

"No," Butler said. "We better win. That's what we should do. No matter what we try to do, I don't care. Those moves better help us win. I just care about winning, I don't care about anything else."

To win in the most competitive Western Conference, both Butler and Green believe they need Kuminga to make an impact when it matters most. That's the common thought within the Warriors. But more and more often, the Warriors need Butler to guide it all.

"Well, that's because how long has it been since he heard those noises? Years!" Butler said.

He once again talked about his past.

"Can you imagine being in a place where - like, I get it - you're not wanted here?" Butler said. "Man, it's the worst feeling. Can you imagine that? Like when I was in Miami last year. It's like, my God, I've been here. What do we say now? It was a terrible place. No matter what you do, you feel like you're wrong."

"So, he had a lot of emotions, and that's normal," Butler continued. "However, I think I should continue to be with him. Let him know that I am here for you. We are all here for you. Simply breathe. Breathe again. We are not messing with you.. I don't think anyone is messing with you. Fans or the media may be causing trouble. But no one here will mess with you, brother. I promise you. I promise. ”