Draymond Green accepts bench role to help Warriors elevate Kuminga

SAN FRANCISCO — When Steve Kerr called Draymond Green to float the idea of bringing him off the bench in an effort to try to optimize ascending wing Jonathan Kuminga, the head coach needed to ask permission.

Of course he was OK with it, Green told Kerr. Like he is when he has to guard bruising centers and play through injuries, he’ll do anything he can to help the Warriors win.

“I’ve been one of (Kuminga’s) biggest fans since he got here,” Green said. “So if he has an opportunity to start, you can’t be hypocritical. If they’re like, ‘We want him to start, but it’ll be for you,’ you can’t be like, ‘nah, not for me. That don’t work.’ I’m a fan of his. I want him to do well. So if his opportunity goes through me, it is what it is. And he earned the opportunity.”

In a season of Steve Kerr searching for lineup combinations that work, the latest development is an experiment that removes Green, a future Hall of Famer who will get a statue outside Chase Center, from the starting lineup.

Kerr’s starters on Friday were Steph Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney and Kuminga. The coach wants to give that lineup “a look,” though an injury to Andrew Wiggins could spike it on arrival. The plan, assuming Wiggins is available after leaving Friday night’s game with an ankle injury, is to have Green come off the bench, close halves and play bursts as a small-ball center. At least for the near future.

It’s more of a bet on Kuminga than it is a tweak to get Green leading the second unit.

Kuminga, who matched his career-high with 32 points in a Thursday night upset over Houston, earned the chance to start at power forward. He successfully ran pick-and-rolls to close out Houston, and the team wants to feature him more offensively with sets and by putting the ball in his hands.

“For us to be good — you saw it in the Houston game, you’ve seen flashes — we need him to be the best version of himself,” Curry said. “We have to be able to figure out, whether it’s play calls, whether it’s certain lineup combinations, how to unlock his ability to get downhill and put pressure on the basket. He’s a big weapon for us.”

The symmetry of the decision isn’t lost on Green. His career blossomed a decade ago, when David Lee ceded his starting lineup spot to him.

“I’m a product of my vet being willing to take a backseat for me,” Green said. “So you’ve got to give back what came to you. That’s what this is about.”

Green doesn’t necessarily look at the move as a demotion, but rather an elevation of Kuminga and an admission that things need to change amid Golden State’s current skid of six losses in seven games.

“I hate losing,” Green said. “If you’ve got something that’s going to help us win, you’re not going to get an argument from me. As I’ve always said, I care about this organization. And I know a lot of people in this organization, including myself, that think he’s next. So if he’s next, at some point we’ve got to see it. For him to do that, he needs the opportunity.”

Even though he has come off the bench before in his career, Green admitted that he wouldn’t have been willing to move to the bench like this earlier in his career.

“Absolutely not,” he said. That suggests the decision could be less temporary than it appears on its face.

“It shows professionalism, it shows his commitment to us trying to figure out what rotations work, what lineups work,” Curry said of Green’s willingness to come off the bench.

Green has always cared about the Warriors organization, and said that he wants to come back in 10 years and see Kuminga holding the mantle. He believes the fourth-year wing is capable of doing so, and allowing him to start instead of him for a stretch could provide proof of concept of that.

Kuminga has come off the bench for most of the season and hasn’t publicly complained about his role, though it’s no secret that starting is important to him. Perhaps more apt than starting, though, is his minute total and how the team uses him. Kerr’s read-and-react system doesn’t always highlight Kuminga’s blow-by ability and penchant for scoring in isolation.

Starting Kuminga and possibly running more offense through him should put him in more comfortable positions on the court.

“It’s time for that for sure, because we haven’t had results otherwise,” Curry said. “So we’ve got to lean into that. It might not go well every night, but that’s what we’re trying to build.”

Curry said the “DNA” of the team right now needs to revolve around sacrifice. Golden State has used 13 different starting lineups in 22 games, asking almost every player to take on roles that could change on a nightly basis.

Green accepting such a role, even if he doesn’t view it as taking a back seat, sets a tone throughout the locker room. Just like Lee did for the first title team 10 years ago.

“I think it’s a great deal of maturity,” Podziemski told this news organization. “I think he and Steve are probably on the same page of what the vision is and what he sees from that. For him to do that, he could probably step in and say, ‘No, I don’t want to.’ But he’s a mature veteran, has always been about what’s best for the team. Him doing that shows us young guys that, ‘Hey, if you have to come off the bench, whether it’s now or later in our careers, he’s a prime example of it. He’s handling it like a pro like he always does.”