The Golden State Warriors entered Saturday’s action leading the NBA by averaging a whopping 61 bench points per game. Though they fell one point shy of that mind-blowing number while beating the Washington Wizards 125-112, don’t be surprised if the Dubs’ reserves are even more productive going forward given Jonathan Kuminga’s new role.

Despite Stephen Curry returning to the lineup after missing the last three games with a sprained left ankle, Kuminga once again found himself on the bench for tipoff in the nation’s capital. Gary Payton II replaced Kuminga alongside the Warriors’ four cemented starters of Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis against the Wizards.

Though he ended up playing just 16 minutes and didn’t even start the second half as Kerr toggled the rotation, Payton’s surprise insertion as a starter was nevertheless proof of concept of what it will take for the Warriors to make good on their stellar start to the regular season.

Why little things loom so large for Gary Payton II, Warriors

The first possession of Monday’s game immediately revealed why it seemed odd—on the surface, at least—for the Warriors to replace Kuminga in their season-long starting five with Payton. Kerr has fondly referred to Payton as a “6’2 power forward” for years, alluding to the veteran’s keen ability to finish, defend, screen and rebound like a player who typically stands at least half a foot taller.

But that unique positional designation also points to the lack of perimeter skills that pretty much every other player across the league of Payton’s size possesses. Watch Jordan Poole abandon him in the strong-side corner as Green catches at the elbow, leaving Payton all by himself before the ball gets back to Curry for a splash.

Kerr repeatedly used the Dubs’ lack of spacing in lineups featuring Kuminga, Green and Jackson-Davis as justification for the former’s initial benching as Curry nursed his sprained ankle. Kuminga is a more frequent, versatile and reliable long-range shooter than Payton, not to mention a more threatening attacker while eating space in front of him off the bounce.

If the Wizards were so comfortable completely ignoring Payton on the game’s first possession just one pass away from the primary action, how exactly would his presence make life easier for the starters than Kuminga’s? Defense looms large to that equation, obviously, but Payton’s spot in the starting five against Washington came down to more than his years of familiarity checking Poole.

Payton’s rare passing and screening mind meld with Curry stands second only to Green’s among the Warriors. He’s the type of low-usage, quick-thinking “connector” a hopeful star like Kuminga never had a real chance of becoming, always managing to keep Golden State’s halfcourt offense humming despite his obvious limitations as a shooter.

Literally no time is wasted before Payton heads backdoor for a layup on the third-quarter trip below, his 45 cut even coming before Poole commits to meeting Curry on the other side of Green’s hand-off.

Kuminga has taken strides moving without the ball this season. A driving factor behind his much-improved play with Curry sidelined was Kuminga making faster, more pointed decisions, beginning to embrace “.5 basketball” like his more veteran teammates have en masse so far.

Yet as much as he’s expanded his game since entering the league, Kuminga can still only tap so far into the intuitive two-way grunt work that helped Payton find a lasting NBA home in Golden State.

This consecutive offensive sequence from the second quarter of Saturday’s game seems simple enough, but Payton might be the only player on the roster capable of regularly stringing it together.

It’s not just floor spacing that makes Kuminga a tough on-court fit next to a pair of non-shooting bigs.

His usage rate ballooning for the second year running while playing without Curry is justification enough to bring Kuminga off the bench. The stagnant nature of Golden State’s halfcourt offense to open games before Curry went down with injury served as confirmation bias of that by bygone starting five’s presumed deficiencies. When Kuminga and Green share the floor together, the Dubs are clearly at their best playing small up front—an approach the 34-year-old hopes to avoid for extended stretches this season.

Plugging and playing Payton alongside Curry, Wiggins, Green and Jackson-Davis is no panacea. The full-strength Warriors are bound to change their starting lineup again as 2024-25 continues.  If you’re wondering why Kerr and the coaching staff believe Golden State functions better with Payton taking the starting spot that used to be Kuminga’s, though, pay extra close attention to the little things.

Juggernaut days of the dynasty are long gone, even with the Dubs racing out to a dominant 6-1 start ahead of Wednesday’s clash with the defending-champion Boston Celtics. Living up to it by making real noise in the playoffs come spring will take a blend of chemistry, continuity and connectivity that Golden State’s level of top-end talent just can’t come close to matching.