How have rookies fared for Warriors during the playoffs?
With Jonathan Kuminga potentially taking on a bigger role next round, a
look back at how prior Warriors rookies have fared in the playoffs
>DENVER, COLORADO – APRIL 24: Golden State Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga
(00) dribbles against Denver Nuggets’ JaMychal Green (0) in the second
quarter of Game 4 of the team’s NBA basketball first-round playoff
series at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo., on Sunday, April 24, 2022. (Nhat
V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
>DENVER, COLORADO – APRIL 24: Golden State Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga
(00) dribbles against Denver Nuggets’ JaMychal Green (0) in the second
quarter of Game 4 of the team’s NBA basketball first-round playoff
series at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo., on Sunday, April 24, 2022. (Nhat
V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
By ALEX SIMON | asimon@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: April 30, 2022 at 5:45 a.m. | UPDATED: April 30, 2022 at 8:44
a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/04/30/how-have-rookies-fared-for-warriors-during-the-playoffs/

With Andre Iguodala likely out for at least the first game of the next
round and possible for more, the Warriors may have to count on a rookie.

Golden State is high on Jonathan Kuminga and sees him as a big part of
the team’s future. But now, the Warriors may have to count on the
19-year-old in the present, too.

In the seven-year run of playoff berths that started in 2013 and
included five consecutive trips to the NBA Finals from 2015 to 2019, the
Warriors didn’t really use rookies — after the first year.

Now, the Warriors were a veteran-heavy team by the time they added Kevin
Durant to their core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and
Iguodala, so there wasn’t much floor time to spread to rookies. But a
few have carved out a spot in the rotation even still, and Kuminga may
be adding his name to that list.

After seeing just late-game minutes in Games 1 and 2 against Denver
alongside fellow rookie Moses Moody, Kuminga missed all of Game 3. But
in Games 4 and 5, he saw second-quarter action, including some time
guarding Nikola Jokic. Might that be an indication that he’ll be part of
the rotation going forward?

Here’s a look back at the early years of the run and the impact that any
Warriors rookies have had in the postseason:

2013 — Harrison Barnes, forward, Festus Ezeli, center and Draymond
Green, forward

The young Warriors’ first stint in the playoffs heavily featured all
three of the rookies they selected in the 2012 NBA Draft.

Like Kuminga nearly a decade later, the Warriors took Barnes with the
seventh overall pick, but unlike Kuminga, Barnes started every game he
played in both the regular season and playoffs and played nearly 38
minutes a game in the postseason.

He was solid, too, averaging 16.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in
the playoffs. Barnes scored 24 points in Game 2 and 23 in Game 5 against
Denver, then added nights with 26 (in Game 4) and 25 points (in Game 5)
against the Spurs.

Ezeli, the 30th overall pick in 2012, continued to perform sufficiently
in his role as a backup center, averaging 11.2 minutes a game in the
playoffs. He averaged two points and 2.5 rebounds per game and made
three starts.

But it was Green, the second-rounder taken 35th overall, who stepped up
when David Lee was hurt and shined for the Warriors. Green’s minute
average jumped from 13.4 in the regular season to 18.6 in the playoffs
because he performed so well, averaging 5.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6
assists and nearly one block a game.

Green’s best performances helped close out the Nuggets to win the core’s
first series together, tallying 13 points, six rebounds and four steals
in Game 4 and 16 points and 10 rebounds in Game 6 – both Warriors wins.

2014 – Nemanja Nedović, guard and Ognjen Kuzmić, center

Neither Nedović (30th pick in 2013) nor Kuzmić (52nd pick in 2012 who
didn’t come to the Warriors until 2013) played outside of garbage time
in the Warriors’ first-round loss to the Clippers.

2015 — James Michael McAdoo, forward

An undrafted rookie out of North Carolina, McAdoo also only played
during the playoffs when the Warriors had a sizable lead.

2016 — Kevon Looney, center

The Warriors took Looney with the 30th overall pick in 2015 and had
hopes that his hip injury would be healed in time to play in the second
half of the season and contribute as a depth center. But after playing
in just 21 minutes across five games, the injury flared up again and
Looney had surgery to repair the torn labrum in his hip, missing the
rest of this season and the entire 2017 playoffs, too.

Unlike the other draft picks since 2014, though, Looney has remained
with Golden State for his entire career so far and has carved out a
seemingly perfect role with the Warriors — and is now a vital piece of
their puzzle.

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2017 — Patrick McCaw, guard

After drafting McCaw 38th overall in 2016, the Warriors carved out a
nice backup guard role for the rookie, who averaged 15.1 minutes per
game in the regular season and 12.1 in the postseason. He even started
three times and appeared in 15 of the 17 playoff games during the first
of back-to-back championships, averaging 4.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and
1.1 assists per game.

2018 — Jordan Bell, forward

Taken with the 37th overall pick in 2017, Bell found a rotation spot as
a springy backup forward, playing 14.2 minutes a game in the regular
season and 10.2 in the playoffs. He was particularly vital late in the
Western Conference Finals against the Rockets, grabbing rebounds and
playing solid defense to help the Warriors win two potential elimination
games.

2019 — Jacob Evans, guard

Evans was selected 28th overall in 2018 but never seemed to find the
right fit on the title-contending Warriors team, only playing in 30
regular-season games and just getting seven garbage time appearances in
the playoffs.

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Alex Simon