Four years of defeat! Kumingga and the Warriors lost!

Clicking back time to before the 2021 draft, Kumingga was an inspiring story at that time. He chose to leave his hometown of Congo at the age of 13 and came to the United States alone with a suitcase.

In order to adapt to the professional league faster, Kumingga did not choose to enter university after graduating from high school, but directly joined the team belonging to the NBA Development League. When his name was called out at the seventh pick in the first round, all his efforts and efforts were finally rewarded.

Before the draft, as a talented striker with a height of 201 and a wingspan of 211, Kumingga was once regarded as a potential No. 1 pick, and some scouts regarded him as Leonard's template. Although he was questioned after entering the league due to his defensive and shooting shortcomings, it is undeniable that Kumingga's talent was absolutely no doubt at that time.

For the Warriors, the draft of that year is very important. They have two first rounds, one is their own 14th pick, and the other is sending away Russell and the 7th pick from the Timberwolves. These two draws are their key bargaining chips for planning the future.

That year, Curry, the three core members of the Warriors, were 33 years old, and Clay and Green were both 31 years old. Poole, who was selected as the 28th pick in the first round of 2019, has already scored in double digits per game. Wiseman, the second pick in 2020, is only 20 years old. As for Kumingga and Moses Moody, who are ranked 14th pick, are both 19 years old.

The team owner Lacob attaches great importance to this group of new players. In the summer, the team found Atkinson and others to join the team to be responsible for the development of new players. These seniors have rich experience in the development of new players, and have in-depth participation in the draft process to customize future plans for young players.

But four seasons later, it is hard to say that the two-way timeline strategy chosen by the Warriors was successful. Although they won the championship in 2022, from a long-term perspective, the development of young players is far less than expected.

In October 2022, Green's fist against Poole broke the calm within the team. Although the Warriors chose to reach a four-year, 140 million contract extension with Poole, they were traded to the Wizards after the season, in exchange for 38-year-old Chris Paul. Due to the injury, Wiseman did not show the value of the Warriors' hope, and was eventually traded to the Pistons in February 2023. As for Moody, although he has gradually gained a firm position in the Warriors, his average score per game has never exceeded 10 points in the past four seasons. It is hard to say that he has met the Warriors' expectations at the beginning. Among these young players, Kumingga is the one who is most hopeful. He became a restricted free agent in the summer of 2025, but due to the incompatibility of the team positioning and system, his development is also in a position of being tasteless and a pity to abandon.

To be fair, the development of young players is not easy. They need more time to train and more opportunities to try and error. Even so, it cannot guarantee that every potential newcomer can grow smoothly. In the traditional strong team of the Warriors, it is not easy to get these opportunities.

Of course, in the Warriors' four seasons, Kumingga also got some opportunities. He scored 26 points in his first start, but it was a game where even the core players did not play. His playing time gradually began to increase in the second season, and he also scored fifth average points per game, especially when Wiggins was absent, his performance was even better.

Coming to the third season, Kumingga scored 46 starts, averaging 17.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. He played stably when he played with Wiggins and Green as a power forward in the small ball lineup. But when he missed due to a knee injury at the end of the season, Cole abandoned Davis's partner Green, and instead achieved miraculous results in defense, which also made Kumingga, who valued offense and despised defense, gradually embarrassing after his return.

In 2025, Kumingga seemed to have found a position that suited him. He became a starting power forward in early December, while Green started from the substitute, which gave Kumingga more playing time and opportunity to play with the ball, and gradually began to rekindle fans' expectations for Kumingga.

Although Kumingga later lost the starting position, Cole allowed Kumingga, who was on the bench to enjoy a playing time that was not inferior to the starting position, and the latter did perform well. It seems that he has begun to find his team's value. According to Kerr's comments at that time, the comments on the newcomer were no longer limited to offensive growth, but praised him: even if he felt hot, he was willing to pass the ball out and create a mobile phone opportunity for Curry's cover.

When Kumingga seemed to have broken through the cocoon, he missed 22 games due to a sprained ligament in his right ankle. At this time, the Warriors sent Butler to the Wiggins trade, and made a 23-8 loss to advance to the playoffs. Kumingga, who returned from injury, never got the starting lineup again, and his chances of playing gradually decreased.

"For Kumingga, Butler is his perfect learning object. Butler is special because he did not try to be special. He played basic basketball and never made mistakes. He just played simple tactics again and again. I want Kumingga to learn those... "

This is Kerr's evaluation of Kumingga at that time. He hopes that this young man can learn Butler's playing style well. But this is not an easy task for Kumingga, who just lost the starting opportunity and then had to face renewal negotiations. He is very prone to rush to perform when playing, but this has led to his performance becoming increasingly unstable and has gradually lost patience, especially when the Warriors are getting smoother without him.

Kumingga did not get a chance to play in the final regular season and playoffs, and he had almost no performance against the Rockets in the first round. However, when Curry was injured, the Warriors, who urgently needed offensive firepower, began to let Kumingga play, and he averaged an excellent performance of 24.3 points per game in four games. After the end of the season, Kumingga and the Warriors are facing a moment of choice. Although he was plagued by trade rumors, the team's general manager Dunleavy still gave his own ideas for staying Kumingga:

"I saw the excellent part of Kumingga, ending the basket, killing fouls, these are what we need. We know he can bring these contributions. He has shown what he can do in the past four years. For these reasons, we will try to keep him."

In addition, coach Cole also expressed similar words, admitting that he did not give Kumingga too many opportunities when the team was stable during Butler's joining, Kumingga was injured, and the team's fight for a playoff spot. According to Cole's idea, he hopes that Kumingga can become a sharp knife in defense of multiple positions, which can protect the rebounds and quickly carry the ball, and can affect the game without special tactical arrangements.

This is a beautiful enough expectation, but Kumingga may not think so.

He wants to help the team through offense, and in those few times he gets the opportunity, he does have some eye-catching performances, but this is not what Cole hopes most. Or, after the Warriors got Butler, they no longer need a role like Kuminga.

Now, we have seen the Warriors' senior management mention the so-called two-way strategy route. The team's general manager Dunleavy said that his current plan is to maximize the peak period of Curry and Green, but for Kumingga, it seems that he has appeared less and less in his mouth.

Looking back on the past four years, both Warriors and Kumingga had been looking forward to each other, but when they were not lucky or faced with every choice, they eventually went on a route that could not satisfy both sides, and their trust was gradually consumed and could not be compensated and repaired in the end.

Whether for the Warriors or Kumingga, the best result now is a breakup.

The Warriors can find multi-function players who are more suitable for the system, while Kumingga can get the long-awaited offensive space. However, when both parties do not trust each other enough, the result can only be that they are not satisfied with each other. The Warriors are unwilling to let Kumingga leave the team, nor can they get the right chip return, and Kumingga is unwilling to adjust his functional positioning.

In this entangled situation, both the Warriors and Kumingga were a waste of four years.