Report: Warriors do not want to move Jonathan Kuminga
Nearly five months ago, the future for Jonathan Kuminga in a Golden State Warriors uniform looked bleak after he reportedly lost faith in his head coach Steve Kerr.
But after a much stronger second half to his breakout campaign, the Warriors aren’t looking to part ways from their 21-year-old wing, according to ESPN NBA insider Ramona Shelbourne.
“Not at all,” Shelburne said on 95.7 The Game, when asked about the chances that Kuminga’s on the table for being traded. “It’s going to get complicated with his extension talks and how much money they have (on payroll), but I think they’ll do everything they can to keep him. I don’t think they even want to talk about him.”
When asked about what else the team could potentially do for “big game hunting,” here’s what she replied:
“They have a pretty good set of assets,” she said. “They have draft picks, they have [Andrew Wiggins], they have [Gary Payton II]. They have a lot of optionality. … And then there’s the blue-chip, which is Chris Paul–that contract is very interesting for a lot of teams for a lot of reasons.”
Kuminga averaged career highs in scoring (16.1 ppg), rebounding (4.8) and assists (2.2) while shooting 52.9 percent from the floor, 32.1 percent from 3-point range and 74.6 percent from the free-throw line last year.
Kuminga is eligible for an extension this offseason. He owns a $7.6 million cap hit for 2024-25 and is scheduled to be a restricted free agent next offseason. Golden State has three players–Stephen Curry ($59.6M), Andrew Wiggins ($28.2M) and Draymond Green ($25.9M)–on the books for beyond $25 million for 2024-25, the first year of his hypothetical extension, per Spotrac.
The Warriors are in a tough position from a trade perspective until the new league year begins. Even though they’re currently under the second apron, they are still limited in their flexibility for being inside the apron in 2023-24.
Until then, Golden State cannot aggregate salary in a trade or take back more salary than it sends out. With Paul’s $30 million being non-guaranteed, it becomes all the more likely he’s waived by June 28 if the Warriors want to save money and have more flexibility.
It could then, theoretically, move Kuminga–its most attractive trade asset (you have to trade something to get something!)–Moody, a salary filler and picks for a “big fish.” Would that be smart? That’s debatable. But those are the options it has.
The Warriors finished 46-36 last year and were buoyed by its youth, namely Kuminga. Do you think they should include him in a trade for a bigger name? Let us know in the comments!
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