2 West foes remind us just how good the Rockets have been all-around

Warriors' mismanagement of young guns

The Golden State Warriors have been the most successful NBA franchise for the last decade, as their four championships since 2014 have paced the league. The Warriors’ long-time trio of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson have been merely impossible to beat when healthy.

When you consider that they drafted each of the three players, it makes it hard to question anything they do operations-wise.

However, they’ve proven to have had a poor developmental program for prospect-level players. Hell, I’d question their ability to evaluate young talent after they mistakenly drafted James Wiseman over LaMelo Ball, but I disgress.

Two payers who were actually drafted in the lottery- Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga- have essentially been afterthoughts for Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who has proven that he’d rather eat glass than give them considerable playing time.

Moody’s 18 minutes per contest in 2023-24 represents a career-best, which is problematic for a former lottery pick in year three. Kuminga, the former G-League Ignite teammate of Rockets guard Jalen Green, has faced the same challenge, as his 22.1 minutes this season are a career-best.

Unsurprisingly, both players have gone to the media to profess their disdain with the situation.

Kuminga shouldn’t be having this issue, especially in a year in which Draymond Green has missed extensive time due to suspension. In fact, Kuminga has averaged 12.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 50.6 percent from the field, and 57.9 true shooting percent.

Last season, he averaged 9.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 52.5 percent from the floor, and even 37 percent from three. So why can’t he get minutes on a 17-18 ball club?

In Thursday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets, Kuminga came out of the game with 5:48 in the third quarter and never returned.

Again, I ask. Why?

Also, why draft these players if you weren’t going to invest in their growth and development? And why not make it clear to them why they aren’t getting playing time?

One can deduce that they haven’t been given an explanation, as they surely wouldn’t be going public about their dissatisfaction with the current situation. Maybe the Warriors are simply planning on trading both players.

But even if this was the case, you’d think they’d want to showcase their abilities to the rest of the league. Regardless of what they’re doing, Rockets fans should be happy to not be dealing with these sorts of issues.