Jonathan Kuminga was a player on the Golden State Warriors who drew a lot of discussions as he struggled for minutes in the playoffs.
However, whenever he came onto the floor, Jonathan Kuminga proved he could be a reliable option on any team.
The 22-year-old had 20 or more in three of the five games he played in the series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
These are impressive numbers for a player who had been out of rotation for several games in the playoffs.
Kuminga’s stats in the Conference Semis proved that Steve Kerr could have been wrong about him, although the championship- winning coach praised the player for his performance and patience.
The Golden State Warriors are expected to have a busy offseason, with trades expected to be made and Kuminga also one of the names who will be made available.
Despite there being growing frustrations surrounding Kuminga’s minutes, Nichols believes the player has done enough to up his value in the sign and trade market.
Kendrick Perkins had slammed Kuminga for his performances in the series against the Houston Rockets, but after that he improved and put up some big numbers, which Nichols believes will be a big boost for the Warriors.
She said: “We were all like, ‘what’s going on behind the scenes?’ Is there something more here, all that stuff, you’ve devalued your own asset.
“And obviously it was for the good of winning, but now that you had an ingredient taken out of that starting lineup, and he showed he can still play basketball,” said Nichols.
“I think that will actually hype up the trade market for him and show that fit [in Golden State] is an issue with Jonathan Kuminga. “He’s obviously not going to turn into a completely different player, but there are teams he could thrive more on, and this series post Steph Curry getting injured, showed that.
“And so I think that will help the Warriors in their refiguring around what to do because I now think they can sign and trade Kuminga in a little bit for a little bit more profit than they could have going into this last series.”
Kuminga was incredible for the Warriors at the start of the season, but his performances and minutes started to dip off after the All-Star break.
He averaged 15.3 PPG in the regular season, but had DNPs’ in four games against the Houston Rockets in the first round.
The Warriors had their set rotation, but an injury to Steph Curry meant Kuminga would be slotted into the lineup.
He had a 30-point game, which also included highlight moments against Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards where Kuminga dunked the ball on him.
His future with the Dubs could be over, but any other team Kuminga has all the credentials to be a star on their roster.
