Steve Kerr Gives Frank Explanation for Jonathan Kuminga's Low Playing Time in Playoffs

The Golden State Warriors were eliminated from this year's playoffs in five games by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals. The series loss can largely be chalked up to the absence of Steph Curry, who hurt his hamstring in Game 1 and was unable to return before his team was sent home.

Now, a significant offseason awaits. The Warriors get the chance to reshape their roster around the new star tandem of Curry and Jimmy Butler. One player who seems most likely to get moved in those reshaping efforts is Jonathan Kuminga, the 22-year-old forward who is entering restricted free agency after mostly disappearing from Steve Kerr's rotation following the Butler acquisition. He reemerged on the court once Curry got hurt and Kerr's hand was forced, playing at least 26 minutes a game starting in Game 2 against the T-Wolves, but was obviously unable to stave off elimination.

Kerr's obvious reluctance to play the former lottery pick extended minutes unless he absolutely has to has been clear for a while now. In an interview released on Wednesday, the longtime Warriors head coach got frank in explaining why.

Speaking to Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard, Kerr said Kuminga is "obviously gifted" and he understands why the forward wants a bigger role, but his goal as a coach is to win and Kuminga didn't further that pursuit.

"It’s a tricky one because Jonathan obviously is gifted and wants to play a bigger role and wants to play more," he said. "And for me, I’ve been asked to win. And right now, he’s not a guy who I can say I’m going to play 38 minutes with the roster that we have—Steph and Jimmy and Draymond—and put the puzzle together that way and expect to win.

“All I do is I try to win. That doesn’t necessarily mean everybody’s going to be happy, whether it’s the fans, or the players, or management, whatever, it’s just I’ve gotta do what I think is best.

"I think right now he is a ball-dominant player, 92nd percentile in usage rate this year in the NBA. That’s really high. On a team with Steph and Jimmy, I mean, honestly, Steph’s gonna have the ball, Jimmy’s gonna have the ball, you know? And so the fit is tricky, there’s no question."

A surprisingly blunt statement from Kerr, but it aligns with his decision-making. On the season, Kuminga averaged 15.3 points in 24.3 minutes per contest while missing 31 games with a sprained ankle. But after the Butler trade Kuminga averaged only 20.8 mpg, and was benched for several of Golden State's first-round games against the Houston Rockets.

It's clear Kerr doesn't see Kuminga fitting alongside the franchise's two stars with his game the way it is, which will make for a difficult decision-making period this offseason as the No. 7 pick in the 2021 draft attempts to get a new contract.