Warriors' Steve Kerr Explains Jonathan Kuminga's Limited Role, Says It's 'Tricky'

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr faced some criticism for his usage of rising young forward Jonathan Kuminga, but he defended his strategy.

Kerr told Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard that Kuminga's limited role was largely due to the Warriors' top-heavy rotation with star players Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler.

"It’s a tricky one because Jonathan obviously is gifted and wants to play a bigger role and wants to play more," Kerr said on Kawakami's podcast. "And for me, I’ve been asked to win. And right now, he’s not a guy who I can say I’m going to play 38 minutes with the roster that we have—Steph and Jimmy and Draymond—and put the puzzle together that way and expect to win."

Kuminga had an up-and-down fourth season in the NBA. He finished with averages of 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 47 games. He fell out of the rotation late in the year and played in only three games in Golden State's seven-game first-round series against the Houston Rockets.

However, the 22-year-old was thrust back into action after Curry suffered a hamstring strain in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He took full advantage of his increased playing time and averaged 24.3 points over the next four games, including a 30-point performance in Game 3.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to keep the Warriors' season alive. The Timberwolves eliminated them in five games.

Kerr went on to explain that Kuminga isn't able to truly thrive when the veterans are in the lineup.

"I think right now he is a ball-dominant player, 92nd percentile in usage rate this year in the NBA. That’s really high," Kerr said. "On a team with Steph and Jimmy, I mean, honestly, Steph’s gonna have the ball, Jimmy’s gonna have the ball, you know? And so the fit is tricky, there’s no question."

Kerr maintained that he did what he felt was best for the Warriors despite the outside perception of his handling of Kuminga.

"All I do is I try to win," Kerr said. "That doesn’t necessarily mean everybody’s going to be happy, whether it’s the fans, or the players, or management, whatever, it’s just I’ve gotta do what I think is best."