Injuries can be a fickle aspect of basketball. As a coach, you obviously want every player to be at your disposal to win games. However, you also don’t want to rush a player back into the fold before they’re ready. This is why Steve Kerr’s update on Jonathan Kuminga has left us scratching our heads a little. There’s good news and bad news.

“He scrimmaged today for the second time. The first one was just half court. Today was his first full-court scrimmage, and he looked good,” said Kerr on Monday, appearing on Willard and Dibs. And as much as we’d love to tell you that this was all he said, Steve was just being nice and giving us the good stuff first. Here comes the bad news.

Coach Kerr was half-hearted when he spoke about Kuminga’s return. Kerr neither gave us a timeline nor the role he’d play after returning. “We’ll give JK as much time as he needs. And whenever he’s ready, he’s ready…It’s just too hard to try to predict where we’ll be once JK comes back and I love the starting group right now. We’re in a good groove,” said the Warriors head coach.

And national reporter Anthony Slater corroborated Kerr’s remarks. “They want him [Kuminga] to hit the ground running. It doesn’t feel that urgent right now, the way they’re playing…but it’s a tough injury…I do think they want Jonathan coming in to really feel like himself when they drop him back in this type of environment,” explained Slater.

It makes sense why Kerr doesn’t want to mess with the system he’s established recently. The Golden State Warriors hold a 5-1 record after the Jimmy Butler trade, heading into the Charlotte Hornets game. Moreover, they’re on their first 3-game winning streak since last November. So it’s evident that their current setup is a problem for the Western Conference and the league as a whole.

Even so, the 9x NBA champ is still doing the best he can to fit Kuminga into this team. Even going as far as having him emulate one of the Dubs’ key players.

Steve Kerr wants Jonathan Kuminga to emulate Jimmy Butler

This injury to Jonathan Kuminga may be the perfect opportunity for him to make massive strides in his game. At least, head coach Steve Kerr seems to think so. And who better to learn from than someone who went toe-to-toe with the likes of LeBron James and Anthony Davis in an NBA final?

Kerr revealed that he wants JK to pick up a few aspects of new Dubs signee, Jimmy Butler’s game. “I think Jimmy’s the perfect guy for JK to emulate. … What makes Jimmy special is that he doesn’t try to be special. He plays fundamental basketball…he never turns it over, just makes the simple play over and over again,” he noted.

“I want JK to learn some of that. He’s so explosive. I think it’s always hardest for the guys who are the most talented to make decisions because they’ve got too many options at their disposal. So I’m hoping that he can learn from Jimmy,” concluded the Warriors head coach.

And to be honest, a patient, more calculated Jonathan Kuminga, is a terrifying prospect. He already has all the physicality and explosiveness in the world. But what he lacks is the game sense of a Jimmy Butler or a Stephen Curry. If he manages even a fraction of those two’s basketball IQ, Kuminga may become unstoppable for years to come. Kerr may be creating a monster in the Bay Area that other teams might fear to end!