SAN FRANCISCO — Andrew Wiggins is a career 72.4 percent free-throw shooter. He’s at 78.6 percent this season. But early in his Warriors’ tenure, the veteran forward’s percentage dipped dramatically into the low 60s for two consecutive seasons — a prolonged slump he’s now past.
That’s something Jonathan Kuminga specifically noted minutes after he capped his second consecutive 34-point game with three massive made free throws in the final 29 seconds of the Warriors’ 109-105 home win over the Suns on Saturday.
“I felt nervous a little bit,” Kuminga said. “I’m not going to lie. I’ve never been in a situation where I go to the free-throw (line) and everybody’s quiet and I gotta make those free throws.”
The 22-year-old Kuminga shot his free throws at a respectable rate for a power wing last season. He went 223-of-299, finishing at 74.6 percent. He expected those trend lines to remain on the rise entering his fourth year, but his efficiency careened instead. Entering Saturday, Kuminga was at a career-low 63.2 percent from the line on a career-high 4.9 free throws per game. For a downhill attacker who wants to increasingly live at the rim as his prime arrives, that’s a concerning dip. So he sought out Wiggins.
“I was shooting well, my free throws, throughout all my workouts,” Kuminga said. “But then — when I get to the game — something changed, and I didn’t know what it was. Wiggs is one of the people that helped me. There was a year Wiggs struggled shooting free throws. Same situation as me … He just gave me a little tip.”
Wiggins told Kuminga to simplify his routine and cut out the unnecessary motion. In the days since, Kuminga has made his free throws more often. Catch, dip, shoot. He’s enjoyed 6-of-9, 6-of-8, 11-of-14 and 8-of-12 shooting at the charity stripe in his last four games. In total, that’s 31-of-43 for a 72.1 percent clip that gifts Kuminga more points and generates more confidence from Steve Kerr’s coaching staff to put the ball in his hands in key moments.
“I just think he’s turning a corner,” Kerr said.
Without the resting Steph Curry and Draymond Green, Kuminga scored a career-high 34 points against the LA Clippers on Friday night. Kerr glowed postgame and before Saturday’s back-to-back about the way Kuminga revved his engine the entire night — cutting, slashing and constantly moving with a force that, on this Warriors’ roster, only he possesses. On several occasions, they got Kuminga isolated against Ivica Zubac in space, and he zoomed past the Clippers’ starting center for several big layups.
“What I like is he’s not settling for the 17-foot pull-up,” Kerr said. “He’s trying to get to the rim. If it’s not there, he’s kicking it out. Then, late clock, he’s one of the few guys who can create a shot. That’s where the mid-range shot comes into play. The process is better.”
With Curry and Green back in the fold against the Suns, Kuminga matched his career-high, making 12 of his 20 shots, which included two 3s and nearly everything else right at the rim. The Warriors brought him off the bench but featured him for large stretches of the game and at important moments of the fourth quarter, during which he came through.
After the game, Kerr sounded as if he was finally settling on a somewhat solidified rotation. He said he plans to keep starting Curry, Dennis Schröder, Wiggins, Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis, while bringing Kuminga off the bench but giving him “starter’s minutes.” In the past two nights, Kuminga played 34 and 37 minutes as a reserve.
This, once again, feels like a breakthrough moment for Kuminga, who is elevating into a more featured role in his fourth season. But anyone who has tracked the Warriors even semi-loosely the last few seasons can remember a handful of other times it has felt like Kuminga’s time has arrived only for him to be minimized again. Is this instance different?
“This feels different to me,” Kerr said. “It really does. There’s just a different force to his game. Last night, you saw all the times he ran the floor, ran through the catch and attacked the rim. Nine rebounds tonight. The timely plays he made. It just feels different. It feels like he’s figuring out how to impact winning, which is obviously the main thing.”
Extended Draymond Green soundbite/perspective on Jonathan Kuminga. His continued advice: “Go score the basketball.” pic.twitter.com/0luYX0n7PS
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) December 29, 2024
Kerr singled out a specific Kuminga read late in the fourth quarter as a sign of growth. The Warriors were up one with 2:36 left. Kuminga was having the best offensive night on the team. He’d already hit two 3s. But when Curry drove and zipped it out to him in the corner, Kuminga didn’t take the quick open 3, but instead swung it to Green on the wing and set the type of pin-in screen for a relocating Curry that this Warriors’ system has thrived on for a decade.
“(Curry) didn’t make it, but that’s the play where you have to recognize Steph’s your teammate, you see he’s cutting through the lane, you swing the ball and go set a screen for him,” Kerr said. “Those are the type of plays that, if he makes and he’s doing what he’s doing getting downhill, getting fouled, getting to the rim … Now the mix, the blend of Steph, Draymond, JK, now it starts to really get powerful. I’m just so impressed with JK.”
Here’s the possession:
We’ll see how long it lasts, but Kerr again sounds committed to featuring Kuminga in a high-usage role, which means more minutes with Green at center than the 13-year undersized veteran would prefer. It’s the only way to make the lineups work, though. Kerr closed with Curry, Schröder, Wiggins, Kuminga and Green, which would profile as Golden State’s best five-man unit.
“Coming into the season, I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to play a ton of five,” Green said. “It’s hard. It was working. We were 12-3 or whatever. But when it’s not working, you have to look at what works. If that’s me at the five, I don’t love it for entire games at this point. But I love to win. If that’s what it looks like, that’s what it looks like. I told the guys, we gotta win some games, or we all gonna be traded out of here.”
Draymond Green knows he’ll likely have to play more center than he’d like to fit Jonathan Kuminga in more lineups.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to play a ton of five. It’s hard…I don’t love it for entire games at this point. But I love to win.” pic.twitter.com/jC4DJcZ2rK
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) December 29, 2024
(Top photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
