The Jimmy Butler trade made Jonathan Kuminga a luxury item

Multiple team sources said there was no big blowup between Kerr and Kuminga that precipitated this. I’d even say that a loud argument might’ve helped the relationship — or at least cleared the air. Why couldn’t Kerr just reduce Kuminga’s minutes instead of giving him DNPs? Why did he go out of his way to flag this situation? It seems drastic. It feels like a snap reaction.

But really, this was a long, uncomfortable situation between two pretty stubborn guys overdue to hit a breaking point. And things just broke.

Over the years, Kuminga has tried to play the way Kerr wants, with some very clear high points when he was ready to pass, cut, screen, rebound, and run the floor with force. Right before the ankle injury — and before Butler arrived — was probably Kuminga’s best sustained run as a Warrior, when he averaged 31.1 minutes, 21 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 7.2 free throws a game in December. But that was also a losing run for the Warriors.

And Kerr has tried to accommodate Kuminga’s 1-on-1 skills and look past his mistakes. Before the Butler trade, the Warriors needed as many talented players on the floor as possible. But accepting messy play is never going to be Kerr’s style — he won’t hide his preference for simpler plays and savvier players.

Once the Warriors started winning with Butler, once Curry showed what he could still do with a complementary superstar next to him, once Brandin Podziemski, Moody, Quentin Post, and Santos raised their games to meet this moment, Kuminga seemed more and more like a luxury item that the Warriors could not afford to keep putting out there.

Kuminga takes quick shots when Kerr wants everybody except Curry or Butler to make sure they’re thoughtful about moving the ball around and exploring every possibility for Curry and Butler. And Kuminga can get lost on defense in this switching scheme that puts a premium on making the right reads at the right time.

Has Kuminga been the worst Warriors rotation player during the last month? No. Even when he’s struggling to fit in, he still can soar for breathtaking dunks or barrel through the lane with soft left-handed finishes. But he’s the Warrior with the worst net rating over this period and the player who sometimes just seems to get in Curry and Butler’s way.

A few Warriors sources pointed to the Warriors’ huge victory in Memphis on April 1 as a turning point. That’s when Curry scored 52 points and the Warriors put up 134 in maybe their most electric, connected game of the season. And it was a game Kuminga missed with a pelvic bruise.

Two games later, in another huge Warriors victory — over Denver at home on the back end of a brutal back-to-back — Curry himself told Kerr that Santos should close the game. Which he did, successfully. And who was the player Santos replaced? It was Kuminga, of course.

Then, going into the regular-season finale, Kerr and the coaching staff knew that the Clippers defense was designed to swallow up ball-dominant players like Kuminga. So they drew up a playing chart that didn’t include him. And even though they lost a thrilling game in overtime, the Warriors felt like that was also one of their best and most scintillating performances of the season.