Almost as soon as the Warriors selected Jonathan Kuminga with the No. 7 overall pick this summer, the franchise’s decision-makers started tamping down expectations and preaching patience.
Especially since the teenager would be trying to break into a rotation loaded with experienced players.
The wait might not take nearly as long as anticipated.
Less than a month into his rookie season, Kuminga already is starting to earn spot minutes in the first half and flashed glimpses of his budding future during a career-best game Friday night against Chicago.
“As long as he goes out there and runs the floor, plays defense, takes care of the ball and passes like he did tonight, we’re going to continue to give him opportunities,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “We need him to develop, and we want to do it in a healthy way. … In the meantime, he’s just got to keep doing what he’s doing.”
Kuminga earned Friday’s minutes with a great four-on-four scrimmage a day prior, according to Kerr. The coach said improvement for the rookie could still mean going to the franchise’s G League team in Santa Cruz to log minutes, and his playing time with the big club will be a “day-to-day, week-to-week thing.”
Who: Warriors (11-1)
at Charlotte (7-7)
When: 4 p.m.TV: NBCSBA
Still, just being in consideration for meaningful minutes is a huge leap for the 6-foot-7, 227-pounder, who turned 19 last month. He missed the end of training camp and the first five games of the regular season with a patellar tendon strain in his right knee. He then logged just 17 combined minutes in his first four games after returning.
As a result of what Kerr deemed “huge strides” in his attitude and approach, Kuminga has played 23 minutes in his past two games. That included a first-quarter cameo against Atlanta on Monday and his breakout game Friday against Chicago.
“JK was awesome,” Warriors point guard Stephen Curry said. “It’s important getting him reps out there, no matter what the lineup is, giving him opportunities to showcase his athleticism and his skill set. … Hopefully, he’ll keep having opportunities to showcase that and understand what that pace, rhythm and feel is like for normal rotation guys.”
Kuminga is averaging just 2.3 points on 46.2% shooting, 0.8 rebounds and 0.3 assists. On Friday, he scored eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, played rock-solid defense and provided a glimmer of his difference-making athleticism.
He had two dunks in the game’s final minute. The first came in transition as Kuminga picked up a loose ball near midcourt, sprinted past two Bulls defenders who started the sequence ahead of him, and finished with a powerful two-handed dunk.
The second slam came after pump-faking a corner 3-pointer and finding a baseline runway for liftoff. He was eye level with the rim before he threw down a two-handed slam that had the Warriors’ bench celebrating like it just won a championship.
“Every time he comes into a game, I’m just telling him to make an impact, whatever that means. If that’s defensively, if that’s getting to the rim, if that’s making good passes,” Warriors power forward Draymond Green said. “If this team is going to continue to go to new levels, we need him to grow fast and bring something to this team that we don’t necessarily have. That’s a 6-8 guy who is probably one of the best athletes in the league already.”
There have been few questions about Kuminga’s athleticism since he moved to the United States from Congo, formerly Zaire, in 2016. Last season, he played for the G League Ignite, averaging 15.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists
This summer, he displayed his playmaking and passing skills during the Las Vegas summer league, and on Friday, he hinted at a defensive potential that had been recently catching the coaching staff’s attention in practice.
After biting on a pump fake and committing a foul on his first sequence against DeMar DeRozan, Kuminga stayed down and in front of the top-10 scorer the rest of the game and helped the Warriors limit him to 18 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
“For me to play in this game, I have to know the opposition,” Kuminga said. “I have to know what I need to do to stay on the court. He’s a tough player, but I think I did great, especially as a rookie coming into the league.”
Rusty Simmons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rsimmons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Rusty_SFChron
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