Warriors' free agency standoff may have solved their Jonathan Kuminga problem

Apparently, pressure does burst pipes, and Jonathan Kuminga and the Golden State Warriors are reaping the benefits of their never-ending offseason drama. In this case, the drama may have brought out the best in both sides.

Kuminga wanted security, and the Warriors' long-time championship-winning coach, Steve Kerr, wanted buy-in from the budding star. Kerr knows what it takes to win, and Kuminga has the talent to be an instrumental piece to any young core.

Kerr and Kuminga have made sacrifices, and the Warriors look like a rolling train with broken brakes. Kuminga, in particular, accepted the buy-in challenge and looks to take his game to a new level.

It's early in the season, but if this is the way Kuminga is going to play with Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler, then good luck for the rest of the league.

New-look Kuminga gives the Warriors a familiar feeling

Golden State dominated the 2010s with a mix of god-tier talent and the peak of teamwork. The Kevin Durant teams were unslefish as a whole, but the overwhelming talent advantage got those teams through any adversity.

The 2022 Warriors championship run sang a different tune. The greatness of Steph Curry, the Warriors' ball-movement system, and the granite defense around Curry powered that run. The defense and ball movement were on another stratosphere from the competition, and Andrew Wiggins was the go-to perimeter defender.

Not only did Wiggins put handcuffs on Jayson Tatum and Luka Dončić, but he played off the ball offensively and destroyed closeouts time and time again. He was an isolation-based midrange-heavy player before he joined the Warriors system and left the Bay Area as a lockdown defender who can put up 17ish points off the ball. That's valuable.

Wiggins' growth in Golden State appears similar to Kuminga's hot start on the surface. They aren't mirror images of each other, but the similarities are there. Both are next-level slashers, have some touch (Wiggins way more), and have the frame to be menacing defenders. Wiggins bought in, and Kuminga is on a similar path.

Kuminga's tendency to go one-on-one in the Warriors' ball-movement system gave Kerr a red face over the years. Isolations are needed at times, but the Warriors' system is predicated on ball movement and playing off the greatest shooter ever. Kuminga's done a better job adapting to this environment.

We've got Kuminga posting up on the wing and directing traffic, looking to hit teammates in their shooting pocket in this matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies. The drama has brought out the best in all parties. They need each other, and the predicament they're in now together makes that crystal clear.

Kuminga is making plays as a driver, screener, cutter, and secondary facilitator. His uptick in passing and screening off the ball displays his newfound buy-in. He's seeing how easy it is to get your own buckets when you play off Curry. In Kuminga's own right, his slashing and crashing abilities elevate this team when he's locked in.

It's not fair to say Kuminga is Wiggins-level as a perimeter stopper, but the Warriors don't necessarily need that from him. That's why Jimmy Butler is getting $55 million a year. When Butler operates as a second option offensively, he should have more than enough legs to guard the best perimeter threats. Butler came to this team to take pressure off Curry and guard.

Butler may be the team's third option by Thanksgiving with the way Kuminga is operating. That gives Butler even more legs to be the pest he is on defense. Kuminga's buy-in gives the Warriors a shot among the immortals and makes the future less gloomy. Fingers crossed that this Kuminga is here to stay.

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