Warriors reach an emotional tipping point with their young stars

The head coach is no longer treating the kids with kid gloves. Patience is running thin with every unsatisfactory effort. Feelings are becoming more raw with every stern warning at the postgame podium.

The Golden State Warriors have reached a crossroads with their path for the future, and the answer to the seemingly eternal question of whether to patiently wait for Jonathan Kuminga's star turn or to trade the immensely talented 2021 lottery pick for an impactful No. 2 star feels imminent more than ever.

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The urgency was palpable in Kerr's comments after the Warriors ended a three-game losing streak with a 113-103 road win against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday. Golden State spent two days recovering from a 144-93 beatdown by the Memphis Grizzlies and rebounded with arguably its most important victory of the season.

Kerr used the final words in his postgame press conference in Minnesota to send a message to the team's youngsters, Kuminga and second-year guard Brandin Podziemski.

"When you have Steph Curry on your team, you pass the ball because when you pass it two or three times the defense is scrambling (and) all hell breaks loose," Kerr said. "So it's a choice. We can either do can do that and win games. Or we can shoot a whole bunch of 15-foot contested shots in the middle of the shot clock and be a lousy NBA team.

"It's up to us. And we are hammering that point home with our team."

Kerr has publicly nudged both Kuminga and Podziemski this season in hopes of coaxing the caliber of nightly contributions the team needs in order to become a contender in the cutthroat Western Conference.

Earlier this month, Kerr called out Podziemski for making costly decisions in a loss to the Denver Nuggets. Said Kerr: "I hope he watches this clip right now with me talking. Because he needs to hear it."

Days later, Kerr anointed Kuminga as a full-time starter to give him the minutes he craved. Said Draymond Green, who was moved to the bench: "A lot of people in this organization including myself think he is next. So if he is next, at some point we got to see it."

Kerr's admonishment last Saturday was meant for Kuminga more than Podziemski. They showed that they got the message with posts on social media.

Podziemski posted on X/Twitter to "clarify" where he's coming from, reaffirming that he's being "cautious against over-thinking every possession" and staying committed to doing "what the coaches want you to do" and "make a good IQ play."

However, the 2023-24 All-Rookie first-team selection seemed to add a caveat to accepting Kerr's mandate, writing "a lot of times" the right decision is "passing the ball to a wide-open Steph or teammate when the opportunity is there" — but not all the time.

Kuminga reacted to Kerr's postgame comments with a cryptic Instagram post with a photo of his back with three peace signs. Did that mean he's accepted his fate as a valuable trade chip to acquire a veteran star to support Curry to make one last championship run?

Warriors brass faces the risk of Kuminga blossoming into a superstar elsewhere. It already blew one top pick with the disastrous 2020 No. 2 overall selection of James Wiseman, so Golden State has to be entirely sure it is leveraging the promise of the 6-foot-7 Kuminga into a Curry sidekick who can bring a fifth NBA championship in the dynasty's twilight.

The clock is running out on the Warriors' infamous two-timeline plan. It feels a path must be chosen before relationships are completely frayed.

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