The Kuminga year 3 leap is upon us.

Yesterday, the Warriors wing made his debut at NBA legend Jamal Crawford’s Seattle-based pro-am, The Crawsover, and left nobody leaving the gym disappointed. JoKu put up 60 points in the game, showing off a variety of scoring moves which are indicative of how productive his offseason work has been.

While plenty of his buckets came on the kinds of looks he was converting with ease over the last season, such as catching weakside lobs and bullying his way on line drives to the paint usually ending with a high-flying dunk, Kuminga showed off a more fluid jumpshot once he got comfortable, a facet of his game that was a concern on the scouting report as a rookie but one which he flashed a lot of improvement on as last year progressed. While his athleticism and ability to finish at the rim were never in doubt, the growth of his perimeter shooting and newfound confidence in his handle were obvious in this performance.

JoKu is expected to shift into a different role this season with the revamp of the Warriors’ bench. Jordan Poole’s departure to Washington opens up a large gap in scoring which he’s the likeliest candidate to fill. Dario Saric is another possibility, but his floor-spacing is likely too valuable for him to be a high-usage offensive engine and there aren’t many others who can step up instead.

There’s an effortlessness to a lot of Kuminga’s buckets, and coming in as a wing with less-developed scoring versatility tends to make the game easier to simplify as a whole. The road to adjusting hasn’t been particularly smooth, but scorers who start out making the simple decisions tend to grow more versatile than their peers who come in with a whole crossover package and favor taking difficult shots.

He was primarily used by Steve Kerr as a point of attack defender and held his own consistently against tough matchups, from Jayson Tatum to Brandon Ingram, but the Warriors lack of need for an extra scorer left him further and further back in the rotation because of rebounding inconsistencies and the kinds of mistakes one would expect a 2nd-year player to make. Kerr’s faith in Kuminga, however, is well-documented, as is his work ethic and drive to improve. Now that there’s a spot for him which fits his skillset better, there’s a higher chance that Kerr puts that faith to use more frequently.

We shouldn’t expect to see the touch-stepback and snatch/drag dribble all too often outside of garbage minutes (if he’s even in a position to play those a few weeks into the season), any improvements to his bag are ones which are indicative of improved confidence. Jonathan Kuminga looks ready to make the leap, and even if it’s just a pro-am, plenty of the competitors in those contests are still professional hoopers who have played at a high level: The skillwork seems to be producing results, and the more time he spends playing with veterans like Chris Paul who know the game, the more those results will be apparent.

(Photo credit: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)