Kenyon Martin reveals why Kuminga and Hield fell out of favor: failing to defer to Stephen Curry.
Despite the expectations that come with being drafted No. 7 overall, Jonathan Kuminga's tenure with the Golden State Warriors never worked out. A lot of attention has been placed on his relationship with head coach Steve Kerr.
Former NBA star and No. 1 pick Kenyon Martin recently weighed in on what he thinks went wrong — not just with Kuminga, but with Buddy Hield too, before both were shipped to the Atlanta Hawks. Martin's read? They both ended up in Kerr's doghouse for the same reason: neither one consistently got out of the way for Stephen Curry.
"One thing that you took from it, like, people wonder Buddy Hield and Jonathan Kuminga, why they was at the dog house, those are two guys that didn't defer to Steph," Martin said. "They didn't. When Buddy touched the ball, you knew what he was doing with it."
Martin also brought up a moment from Hield's early days in Golden State, when Kerr — after Hield passed up an open look for Curry — jokingly reintroduced him to the league's greatest shooter during a timeout.
"It was a kidding moment, but it was some truth in it a couple of years when Buddy first got there, and Steve Kerr's like: 'Buddy, meet Steph, the greatest shooter of all-time.' Like it was some joke, but there was some truth to it, right? So he never did. He never did defer to Steph, and we all know Jonathan Kuminga didn't as well. That's how they ended up at the end of the bench," he added.
Kuminga's game was built for scoring. He's a natural slasher, confident in isolation, with a shoot-first mentality baked in. None of that is necessarily a problem — just in Golden State, where ball movement and getting Curry his shots aren't suggestions. Martin implied that Kuminga never fully adjusted to that reality, and it eventually cost him his spot in the rotation.
Golden State traded both Kuminga and Hield to Atlanta for Kristaps Porziņģis. Martin thinks the change of scenery could actually do Kuminga some good — the Hawks are a better fit for what he brings.
As for the Warriors, the move reaffirmed something that's been true throughout the Curry era. Talent has never been the only thing that matters for Golden State. Buying into the system does too. The margin for error is thin in the loaded Western Conference, and Kuminga's talent was enticing, but an inability to align proved too much.