Kurtenbach

as Kuminga can take them this postseason. He's the X-factor, the gamechanger, the present and the future.

The NBA playoffs are defined by two-way wings—players who can create for themselves and others at all three levels on offense and deny at all three levels on defense.

There aren't many players with the size and athleticism to control an NBA playoff game.

Kuminga is certainly one.

And while, ironically, the Warriors have another option for that job — Andrew Wiggins, the leading wing on the 2022 championship team — he is more enigmatic than the kid from the Congo. Guessing if 2022 Wiggins will arrive for this postseason is a fool's errand.

For what it's worth, the Warriors have come to accept that Wiggins was a

one-hit wonder. It's better to keep expectations low. They'll be happily surprised if he reprises the role, though.

In the meantime, they'll need a wing, and Kuminga is the next-best man for the job.

But while Wiggins commits errors of omission — he floats on the court, and not in a good way — the young and energetic Kuminga commits errors of commission. He's trying to do too much, which often leaves him failing to do what he needs to do for the Warriors to win.

Many of the issues that limited Kuminga's role at the beginning of the season persist. They've shown themselves in the final weeks of the season.

But Kerr had no choice but to play Kuminga more in January and beyond because the team was in disarray and was lacking anyone who could reasonably be considered a No. 2.

He's in the same spot heading into the postseason.

While Wiggins and Klay

Thompson have been better, alongside Kuminga they can form a No. 2 by committee, but that will only get the Warriors so far.

If this team is to do something special — like Kerr believes it can — it will be behind a star turn from Kuminga.

Of course, he could torpedo the season with his zeal to become a star. After all, the Warriors are in a single-elimination tournament for the next two games.

How Kuminga plays this postseason won't just define the Warriors' 2023-24 season; it'll also likely define the seasons to come.

If Kuminga takes another step forward starting Tuesday — if he rebounds, plays elite defense, and is smart with the ball on offense (all things he has shown he can do but rarely does concurrently) — the Warriors could parlay that performance into a long-term bet on him.

If he fails to impress —

if he spends all game leaking out looking for transition dunks, if he spins on defense, and if he dribbles into collapsed lanes on offense — it'll make it all the easier to move him this upcoming summer for someone who is more aligned with Curry and Green's career timelines.

Is it fair to turn what might be a one-game postseason run into a referendum for a player this young?

Of course not.

But such is the Warriors' challenge and the harsh reality of pro basketball. The Dubs can't wait to find out what Kuminga might become.

There is no next year for the Warriors as we know them.

There is only the here and now — one game with an entire dynasty on the line.

And by some strange twist of fate, so much of that game rests on the broad shoulders of Kuminga.

How will the kid carry the burden?