It's well-documented that Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Brandin Podziemski will start for the Golden State Warriors on Monday night vs. the Los Angeles Lakers.
However, who will be starter No. 5 for Steve Kerr's promising 2025-26 squad? According to NBA Insider, the Warriors have finally revealed the final piece to the puzzle.
"Golden State Warriors will start forward Johnathan Kuminga on opening night against the Los Angeles Lakers," Chris Baynes reported on X/Twitter.
The Warriors' decision to start Kuminga comes as a bit of a surprise, to say the least. Golden State signed Al Horford in the offseason to help give them a center capable of being inserted into the starting lineup (Kevon Looney was a tremendous glue guy during his nine-year stint in the Bay, but wasn't a starting-caliber big man).
Now that Kuminga will round out the Dubs' starting five instead of Horford, the organization will be undersized against a Lakers bunch that also upgraded at center before the new season (they signed Deandre Ayton).
Can the Warriors succeed while playing small ball? Absolutely, and they've proven that plenty of times in the past.
That said, it doesn't make much sense to play that brand of basketball when you don't have to. It'll be interesting to see how the organization fares with Horford coming off the bench in regular-season game No. 1.