The Golden State Warriors will have a major player return to their lineup for their Thursday game against the Sacramento Kings. On Wednesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that there’s a chance for Jonathan Kuminga to play in the Warriors’ game against the Kings. The forward has been out of the lineup since Jan. 4 with a sprained ankle.
On Thursday, the Warriors confirmed that they plan to have Kuminga back. He’s one of the most important players for the team this season, averaging 16.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists on 34.5% shooting from deep before he sustained the injury.
Before the game, Kuminga’s minutes were questioned by Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. Kerr promised the reporters that the 6-foot-8 player would not be subject to any minute restrictions. But he did say he will be careful about how he spends his time on the court. After all, this is his first game back. The Athletic’s Anthony Slater asked the winning head coach what he planned to do with Kuminga.
“No,” Kerr said when asked if Kuminga will have a minutes restriction. “But it’s safe to say he’s not gonna play a huge number of minutes. This is a part of a process, the last step of the process. We’ll throw him out there for sure and he’ll go from there.
No specific minutes restriction for Jonathan Kuminga tonight, but it’ll be a careful amount, per Kerr. Short bursts.
Here’s Kerr on that and the idea of Kuminga, Butler, Draymond lineup combinations pic.twitter.com/6jr8jsjMbS
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 14, 2025
Kerr was also asked if he plans to have Kuminga play with Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green at some point in the game.
“We want to get to that lineup at some point. My gut is GP should be in that lineup… That’s definitely a lineup worth thinking.
With the young forward back, there’s an expectation that Golden State’s defense will improve.
Golden State Warriors head coach wants to keep Gui Santos in the rotation
One of the players who has stepped up in the absence of Kuminga is forward Gui Santos. Since the injury of the starting forward, the 6-foot-8 forward has played 30 games, averaging 5.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists on 47.6% shooting. With the return of the four-year forward, many believe that Santos could be removed from the rotation.
However, the Golden State Warriors head coach said he wants to keep Santos in the rotation.
“It’s a difficult thing when you’re playing really well and then you have a key guy coming back,” Kerr said. ”It’s always tough. I think the idea is just to bring him along slowly, play him in short bursts, and help him get his rhythm back. But we’ve got to keep playing Gui Santos. We’ve got to keep playing the guys who are helping us win right now.”
Steve Kerr on the challenge of bringing Jonathan Kuminga back into the rotation when healthy:
"The idea is to bring him along slowly. Play him in short bursts… But, we've gotta keep playing Gui Santos. We've gotta keep playing the guys who are helping us win right now." pic.twitter.com/GWmYCYxE1s
— KNBR (@KNBR) March 9, 2025
In the past four games Santos has played, he’s averaged 8.5 points and 3.8 rebounds.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
