Jonathan Kuminga’s possible exit from the Warriors is brewing now

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It was just there for everyone to see during that frenzied Warriors fourth quarter in Philadelphia on Thursday – flying around, yelling at the crowd and almost taking away this game; and who was not.

It’s really been a subtext for the last few weeks. But it’s not subtext anymore.

Pat Spencer, Gui Santos, Quinten Post, De’Anthony Melton, Will Richard and Buddy Hield were the main characters of this game in the playoffs.

Not all of them will remain in the main rotation once Stephen Curry (out for the road trip with sore quad), Jimmy Butler (sore knee, could be back in the lineup Saturday at Cleveland) and Draymond Green (injured foot in first half Thursday) are healed — and certainly not all of them deserve it.

But it’s important that they almost won this game as Jonathan Kuminga (-18 in the game) and Brandin Podziemski (-20) sat the entire fourth quarter and Moses Moody played the final 9:13.

It’s important that Spencer, in particular, has looked good and has earned more playing time as an aggressive playmaker since Curry’s absence. And Melton, in his first game this season, looked very comfortable and valuable playing alongside Spencer or alone as a driver and defender.

It really matters that Kuminga, Podziemski and Moody have absolutely not looked great and have lost playing time in the fourth quarter since Curry’s absence.

Two games ago, Kerr went with Podziemski and opted not to stick with Spencer to avoid a late Warriors rally in a possible loss to the Thunder and may have lived to regret it; Meanwhile, Kuminga didn’t play a second during that fourth quarter on Tuesday and Moody, as is now a trend, only played cameo seconds.

What is going on here? Let’s just say things can change quickly and they often do – just a few months ago, Kuminga was playing with great energy and efficiency and was fully engaged in every way Steve Kerr and the Hall of Fame veterans could want. It could soon turn out that way for Kuminga, as well as Podziemski and Moody.

Kuminga and Moody are 23 years old. Podziemski is 22 years old. They all did good things with the Warriors. They all have long careers ahead of them.

But this season appears to have taken a major turn, especially for Kuminga, dating back to the Warriors’ stirring back-to-back wins over the Spurs in San Antonio last month. This came right after a demoralizing loss in Oklahoma City and whispers from Draymond and Butler that something was wrong and needed to be fixed.

It’s obvious that the Spurs’ wins came after Kuminga was removed from the starting lineup; Additionally, he injured his knee in the Spurs’ first game and missed the next seven.

In the three games since Kuminga’s return, all without Curry, he has scored 10, 8 and 9 points, shot 36.7% and played a total of 54 minutes. It wasn’t great. He just hasn’t been the focus of anything, offensively or defensively, and that’s expressly what the Warriors need when Curry and Butler are out. And expressly what Kuminga thinks he should do for the Warriors.

As Draymond said after the OKC game: Kuminga asked for that responsibility.

It’s me, not Draymond: This feels more like the end of last season, when Kuminga was taken out of the rotation during the Warriors’ biggest games, which no Kuminga fan wants to see or acknowledge.

We can add Podziemski and Moody to the larger discussion, but they weren’t the ones who went through a tortuous negotiation last summer that resulted in a two-year, $48 million contract (just $23.5 million guaranteed this year) constructed as a bargaining chip either at the February trade deadline or the following offseason.

Since this is a new deal, Kuminga cannot be traded until January 15. Which makes the next five weeks a typical period of heightened midseason drama for the Warriors.

Bottom line: The Warriors won’t want to lose leverage in this situation, because they’re heading toward a conclusion that was probably inevitable all along. Perhaps inevitable since Kuminga’s rookie season.

The Warriors want to win games, they want Kuminga to maintain or increase his value, and they want to have the option to either trade him for something very good or keep him and know he will be a major asset in the spring.

They don’t want to get to January 15 when the whole league knows they need to exchange a disengaged Kuminga at unbeatable prices.

It’s the same for Moody. Maybe the same for Podziemski. But given their matchups alongside Butler and Curry and their relatively low salary cost (at least until Podziemski offers a rookie extension next summer), I don’t see either Moody or Podziemski being traded this winter unless they’re put in play to make a huge deal with Kuminga.

Notably, Spencer shows he might be a better option than Podziemski as the primary guard when Curry is out, perhaps with Melton as his primary backcourt companion. But when Curry plays, Podziemski is probably a better option as a secondary initiator in most games. And, as Kerr has often mentioned lately, Spencer agreed to a two-way deal and is already 23 games toward the 50-game limit on the active roster.

The Warriors just added Seth Curry to max out the full 15 spots and they are limited to the second apron with almost no wiggle room. The only way they can add Spencer is if they expose themselves at center by waiving Trayce Jackson-Davis’ deal before Jan. 10, when he’s guaranteed for the full season (highly unlikely), or if they make a two-for-one, three-for-one, or four-for-one trade to open up space.

The way this is going, it is very unlikely that the Warriors will be able to enter into negotiations for Giannis. Antetokounmpo. They just don’t have enough firepower, although I heard Milwaukee was at least interested in Kuminga last offseason.

But the Warriors also get to see what else is out there as teams fight for Giannis and deal with all sorts of side effects of such a massive undertaking.

However, I don’t think the Warriors are just going to give up Kuminga. Maybe they should just move his money to draft a veteran like 34-year-old CJ McCollum, who is expected to play more meaningful basketball in the later years of his career than whatever is happening with the Wizards. But I doubt Joe Lacob would want to sell at such a low price.

So what will the Warriors do? I think it’s up to Kuminga to decide at this point, not Kerr, or the veterans, or anyone else.

Should Kerr be this harsh on Kuminga in particular? Kuminga told me earlier this season – okay, when things were going better for him – that he wanted Kerr to coach him hard, that he told Kerr he wanted to hear directly if he made a mistake.

If Kuminga fails to break through, it’s more to do with him than Kerr or his system, in my opinion. Just like Spencer’s ascendancy is about him and his game, not Kerr.

After Thursday’s game, Kerr logically said that it was a one-time situation that broke out for Spencer, Santos and the other third-string players, and that at any other time, Kuminga, Moody and Podziemski could play all the crucial minutes.

Which makes sense. That’s what a coach should say. Kerr will need Kuminga, Moody, Podziemski and everyone else at points this season. But Kuminga, Podziemski and Moody are no longer random players. This list is not made for that. Kuminga and Moody are well paid. Podziemski is coming to the window to sign his rookie extension and by all signs he expects to make big money.

They’re all supposed to be major, permanent parts of every game’s journey — when Curry and Butler are playing, and even more so when they’re out.

It can’t just be about setting everything up perfectly for them. This is the argument of Kuminga’s supporters, namely that it is this system that must adapt to him, and not the other way around. But no, that’s just not how it works in the NBA hierarchy. You have to make it work for you, or you’re just another actor. And it’s good that Kuminga definitely doesn’t consider himself an actor. He just needs to prove it.

It always depends on Kuminga. It doesn’t depend on anyone else. Even when going out, it’s up to him to decide.

His departure is coming, whether it’s this winter or this summer, and he’ll be better off when that happens. How much better will the Warriors’ situation be?