West Notes: Warriors, Jonathan Kuminga, Spurs, Rockets

By
Sam Amico
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Warriors

The Warriors lost Klay Thompson, signed several new faces and return Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. But they will still need a few others to step up to become real playoff contenders.Jonathan Kuminga

One of those players? No less than rising forward Jonathan Kuminga.

“Stephen Curry is entering his 16th NBA season poised to carry one of the heaviest burdens of his career,” wrote Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report. “His Warriors lack anything close to a load-lightening second star unless Kuminga, he of the big-wing frame and A-plus fast-twitch eruptions, rises to assume that mantle. Klay Thompson is gone, an aging Draymond Green has never been a high-usage offensive piece and no one should feel confident in knowing which version of Andrew Wiggins will show up in 2024-25.”

Given that coach Steve Kerr does run out a mish-mash of lineups, you’d think that Kuminga, Wiggins, newcomer Kyle Anderson and others could share the court at the same time. But you can’t help but think this will be the season that the Warriors finally move on from Wiggins.

As it stands, Golden State looks like anywhere from the eighth to the 10th seed in the Western Conference entering the season. Continued growth from players such as Kuminga could potentially help change that.

Spurs

Meanwhile, Hughes listed no less than Victor Wembanyama as the possible breakout dude for the Spurs.

And why not? Wembanyama was very good in his first NBA season. With the help of veterans such as Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes, perhaps he can be even better.

“Wemby is poised to collect maximum hardware,” Hughes wrote. “We’re talking MVP consideration, likely All-NBA status and a Defensive Player of the Year award.”

It took LeBron James three years to make the playoffs after being drafted in 2003. Wemby could be on a similar trajectory.

Rockets

As for the Rockets, well, there’s no doubt the entire team could be destined for a breakout year — especially after finishing strong last season.

No player on the roster may exemplify that rise better than forward Jabari Smith Jr., who looks like the “young Rocket best situated to take a step forward,” Hughes wrote.

“Much of that owes to Smith’s developing outside shot,” Hughes added. “That skill was a major part of a prospect profile that got the 6’11” forward drafted at No. 3 overall in 2022, and it matured in encouraging ways last season.”

Hughes is right. Smith made big strides from the perimeter.

“After hitting just 30.7 percent of his 4.9 three-point attempts as a rookie, Smith drilled 36.3 percent of his 5.0 tries last year,” Hughes wrote. “As his jumper fell, Smith gained confidence, took more attempts off the dribble and became a consistent impact player down the stretch.”

So while most everyone else is battling for minutes, it will be incredibly difficult for coach Ime Udoka to keep Smith off the court in any lineup.

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