“Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga—out since Jan. 4 with a sprained ankle—plans to return to the lineup on Thursday against the Sacramento Kings, sources tell ESPN”. Hearing this update finally from Shams Charania after a long and tiresome period is music to the ears.

Jonathan Kuminga’s absence has been felt ever since he was sidelined in early January. Now, as he makes his long-awaited return, it’s a welcome relief for the Warriors—but also a challenge.

A lot has changed since Kuminga last suited up. The lineup has evolved, the team’s chemistry has improved, and their position in the standings has stabilized. Now, as they fight to maintain that momentum, Kuminga won’t just have to return—he’ll have to adjust, and quickly. The question is, can he seamlessly reintegrate without disrupting the flow that’s been working so well?

Mark Willard and Dan Dibley, hosts of the ‘95.7 The Game’ show, interviewed Steve Kerr once again after Shams Charania dropped the update. The Warriors’ head coach highlighted his excitement for Jonathan Kuminga’s return, stating that the player should be back assuming he has no “setbacks” during the coming days. As for how the player will have to adjust, Kerr emphasized how Kuminga was the go-to guy for him before Jimmy Butler’s acquisition. The player who, along with Stephen Curry, could make a difference in the offense. Now, things have changed. Since the Butler-Curry team up is yielding good results, why would the head coach want to change the dynamic now?

“Now that Jimmy is here, look, Jimmy, is one of the best players in the league. He’s proven it. Soon as he got here, we started winning. And so we’re going to run through Jimmy Butler, and we’re going to run through Steph Curry,” said Kerr. “So what that requires of JK is to be settling into a role to support those guys and that’s slightly different and that’s just something that he has to adapt to.”

Jonathan Kuminga’s injury came at a brutal time for the Warriors. On January 4th, during a matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies, he went up to contest a shot by Jake LaRavia—who had already drawn a foul from Dennis Schroder. With the paint crowded and bodies battling for position, the situation looked dangerous even before he hit the ground.

Sure enough, disaster struck. Kuminga landed awkwardly, immediately checked out of the game, and never returned. His absence only made things worse for a Warriors team that was already struggling to find consistency.

But just when things seemed to be spiraling, Golden State made a bold move. In early February, they pulled off a blockbuster trade to bring in Jimmy Butler, shaking up their lineup and injecting new energy into their season. Now, with Kuminga set to return, the Warriors are looking at a very different roster than the one he left behind.

When Jonathan Kuminga got injured, the Warriors held an 18-16 win record. Now, Stephen Curry and co. hold a 37-28 win record. They rank as the 6 seed in the Western Conference. The team has won 10 of its last 11 and 12 of its last 14 games.

The squad is just three games behind the fifth-place Houston Rockets with about a month left in the regular season. All thanks to the duo of Butler and Steph, along with the other scorers, doing their part to revitalize the team’s playoff hopes. In the mix of this winning formula, it will simply be a big adjustment to find a place for Kuminga. He might even get demoted from the starting lineup.

How the team will proceed going forward is a question not just being pondered upon by Steve Kerr. Even Draymond Green is waiting to see what happens next.

Draymond Green reveals not knowing how the Warriors will use both Jonathan Kuminga and Jimmy Butler

Jonathan Kuminga’s return was discussed by Draymond Green during his podcast’s recent episode. Green has been especially one player who has valued having Jimmy Butler on the team. The power forward/center has praised Butler’s extra efforts to devise strategies with the rest of the players. That, and promoting his offensive prowess. Once you get used to one type of protein shake, it is hard to revert to the old one, right? Well, that is at least the case for some people.

Fortunately, despite his confusion, Green is open to change.

“I don’t know,” said the 35-year-old when answering a fan question about how Kuminga and Butler can adjust together. “What I do know is Jimmy knows how to play with anybody, and JK has a lot of talent and Jimmy will figure out how to use that talent to the advantage of this team and we will figure that out. So I don’t know how well they’ll fit. I do know at some point they will make it work. But JK, we’re looking forward to getting him back.”

Do you believe that the Warriors can figure out a way to efficiently use both Jonathan Kuminga and Jimmy Butler instead of being confused about their place for a long period? Let us know in the comments.