Key to Warriors championship hopes ranked as NBA's 'most overrated player'

The Golden State Warriors, led by Stephen Curry, are a team that hopes to be in the NBA championship conversation every year. To their credit, they have reason to have lofty expectations due to their four championships and six NBA Finals appearances over the last decade, but they're not there right now.

The Warriors lost in the second round of the NBA playoffs in the 2022-23 campaign and did not even make the postseason in 2024, bowing out in the Play-In Tournament.

They're already trending in the wrong direction, and nothing that they've done this offseason suggests that they'll suddenly turn things around enough to win the NBA Finals. Sure, adding role players like Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson, and De'Anthony Melton over aging veterans Klay Thompson and Chris Paul probably makes them better, but not by too much.

Their title hopes, for now, rest on Curry maintaining his MVP form in his age-36 season, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins staying on the floor, and young players like Brandon Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga improving. It's not impossible, but it's obviously not likely.

What makes these hopes more dream-like than reality is the fact that valuing Kuminga as if he's the third-best player on a championship team is probably overvaluing him. The fact that he was ranked as the most overrated player in the NBA by Dan Favale of Bleacher Report backs that up.

Warriors title hopes depend on 'most overrated player'

The end of Favale's Kuminga assessment sums it up pretty well:

"But this idea that he's cornerstone material, both inside and outside the Warriors organization, is bizarre. Maybe he will get there one day. I hope he does. He's not there yet, though."

Look. Kuminga was seen as a potential cornerstone piece when he was taken with the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. He's also coming off of his best season by far, averaging 16.1 points per game in just 26.3 minutes per contest for Golden State. Is that really cornerstone material, though?

Reports surfaced that the Warriors chose to pass on a potential Paul George trade because they did not want to part with Kuminga. His involvement might be what prevents a Lauri Markkannen trade from taking place.

Sure, there's every chance that Kuminga will be an All-Star one day, but this Warriors team should be about now. Curry, again, is 36. Draymond Green is 34 years of age. They're not getting any younger. Wanting to win in the future makes sense, obviously, but how realistic is that? How good will Kuminga be while Curry is in his prime relative to other star players? How good can Kuminga even be at his peak?

Barring massive and immediate improvement from Kuminga, what's this team's ceiling? A second-round berth? Maybe a Conference Finals appearance if things break their way? Kuminga should not be treated as if he's a star player on a championship contender, or as an untouchable in trade talks for proven stars, yet that's where we've been, making it a frustrating situation for Warriors fans.