The Warriors have not been doing well since Draymond Green was injured in early January, and losing one of the greatest defensive players in history and the team's catalyst doesn't feel good for the Warriors. But Jonathan Cumminga has been brilliant during this time, and the rookie presence has made the Warriors' adjustments much easier, playing a long time in Green's big forward position, including more than 25 minutes in three games.
Thanks to the opportunities he got during this time, Cuminga began to show his potential for the first-round no. 7 show, and since Jan. 6, the Warriors rookie forward has averaged 13.1 points per game, shooting 50.6 percent from the field, well above the league average of 45.4 percent, and shooting 42.3 percent from three-point range. In two of those nine games, Cumminga became the team's top scorer, including against the Dallas Mavericks, who scored 22 points to become the best performer in the game.
But Cumminga's contribution to the Warriors is not only scoring, in nine games since Jan. 6, Cuminga averaged five rebounds per game, including a career-high 10 rebounds against the Detroit Pistons on the 19th, and he also got his first career double-double in this game, making him the second youngest player in Warriors history to have a double-double, behind Andris Bedrings.
Cuminga's defense has also improved significantly, and we can note that he has rarely been out of position on the defensive end, and while he may not be the kind of player who can play great defensive stats, he did have 3 blocks and 1 steal against the Chicago Bulls.
Judging by his performance on the court, the young rookie also has a good game reading ability and can find pitchers in empty positions in the game, but because the Warriors' entire team has dropped a lot since the beginning of December, he can only deliver 1.1 assists per game.
But all this shows that Cumminga has started to become a qualified NBA player, he still has a lot of room to grow, and only time will prove how great he will become.