7 days ago
What's the latest intel on Jonathan Kuminga and his uncertain Warriors' future?
SAN FRANCISCO — There are essentially three competing agendas within the Golden State Warriors in regard to Jonathan Kuminga's uncertain future: Kuminga's, the win-immediately core's and management's.
Their motives agree and overlap in nuanced ways but clash in certain others, generating a complicated month ahead for the organization's biggest-ticket offseason item.
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Restricted free agency gives an extra bit of inherent leverage to the franchise. Klay Thompson, unrestricted and unhappy with his situation, left the Warriors last summer on his own volition. Kuminga can't. If he is to split from the Warriors, he will need a level of cooperation between the front office, his agent, Aaron Turner, and his next team.
But this is still the greatest amount of control Kuminga has ever had in his first four professional seasons and the plan is to wield it as best as possible. He's 22, still young enough to believe a mountain of growth is ahead, but old enough in NBA years to be assured in what he does and doesn't want his early prime seasons to look like.
Kuminga, league sources said, still has visions of becoming an All-Star, not fitting into an ever-moving mid-tier rotation role. He wants to be a featured player in an NBA offense and chase the 20-point-and-beyond dreams he's spent his life chasing and the last week of his fourth season tasting.
With an injured Steph Curry out of the picture, here were Kuminga's averages the last four games of the Minnesota Timberwolves series: 24.3 points on 54.8 percent shooting. He was a powerful 22 of 29 within five feet. He was a respectable 7 of 18 on 3s. He blew through Rudy Gobert for a memorable dunk. He toasted Naz Reid repeatedly in space. He was given the Anthony Edwards assignment on the other end.
Jonathan Kuminga,
HOW⁉️
📺 #NBAonABC
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 11, 2025
Kuminga wasn't perfect. The Warriors lost all four games. But he was a primary and productive source of offense in the second round of the playoffs against a great defense. Minnesota had real trouble staying in front of him. That's the type of week that only stokes the belief that Kuminga's career desires are attainable, if given the room to stretch his legs, either with the Warriors or elsewhere.
There isn't an irreconcilable player-and-coach or player-and-organization personality clash, league sources said. This is all about finding the contract and opportunity Kuminga craves.
Jonathan Kuminga on his relationship with Steve Kerr: 'We've had ups and downs. But he helped me to get here.'
Kuminga kept answers about his future vague: 'I don't know.'
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 15, 2025
Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler will make a combined $139.6 million next season. Below them — a three-man core general manager Mike Dunleavy maintains the franchise is committed to building around — there isn't a bunch of higher-priced roster-building tools to use.
Kuminga represents the largest one, either through a fourth hefty contract commitment that'll stretch the Warriors near the aprons or a sign-and-trade opportunity that brings back the type of mid-rotation pieces to better round-out a fringe championship roster.
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The last time Curry, Butler and Green were on the court together, they were up 10 in Game 1 in Minnesota and Kuminga was somewhere between the ninth and 11th man, mostly out of the picture. They enter the offseason under the belief they had a chance if Curry's hamstring didn't give and want some roster fortification to give them their best crack at it the next two playoffs.
The cleanest path is finding a sign-and-trade scenario that delivers the Warriors veterans who fit the unique Steve Kerr system built around Curry, Green and now Butler — three unique and proven winners. One league source noted the way Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington altered Dallas' fortune two trade deadlines ago as a blueprint. Those two — a steady starting center and versatile wing — made a combined $28.8 million at the time of the trade.
Ever since one of Kuminga's early-career breakout games in Chicago, Kerr has repeatedly mentioned the name Shawn Marion as a favorite idealized comparison. Their roster could certainly use a 6-foot-7 slasher who defends every position, pounds the glass, flies around with force and impacts the game without ever needing a play design.
But there's a square-peg-round-hole reality that has proven itself out in nearly a half-decade together. Kuminga has acknowledged he must rebound better — activity that usually trickles down to the rest of his game. But he's an on-ball scorer at heart and has trained and built his basketball instincts with that in mind.
There is not a current expectation that the Brooklyn Nets are preparing an offer sheet for Kuminga, but there are signs Brooklyn could be willing to use its open cap space as a vehicle to execute multi-team trade scenarios this summer, league sources said.
That could open up several avenues and possible suitors for Kuminga, one of the market's most intriguing names. The Warriors' front office, with the help of new cap specialist Jon Phelps, showed some creativity last summer, routing Thompson's departure into a six-team sign-and-trade that delivered Buddy Hield and Kyle Anderson (after generating the space for De'Anthony Melton).
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Something similar would check the box for the first two agendas. But that's where it gets tricky.
In regard to Kuminga's situation, the 'base year compensation' rule in the CBA is a critical impediment. Assuming Kuminga gets at least a 20 percent raise (he will) and his new deal takes the Warriors over the cap (it will), the incoming salary will only count as 50 percent of Kuminga's outgoing salary for matching purposes.
Basically: If Kuminga's next deal starts at $30 million, his next team absorbs it as such, but the Warriors would be looking at a $15 million incoming match. They could exceed it by 125 percent ($18.75 million in this scenario), but if they were to take a dollar more than the theoretical match ($15 million in this scenario), they'd be hard-capped at the first apron.
Leaving all the accounting intricacies to the side, here's what matters: That combination punch (the base-year rule plus first-apron cap) significantly limits the amount of sign-and-trade opportunities that can realistically be executed.
Other salaries (at full price) could be added. The Warriors' front office, Kuminga's representatives and the league are expected to explore all options into July. But team sources have been hinting that, because of these market and financial restrictions, there's a likely world where the most obvious and prudent path is for them to bring Kuminga back and figure the rest out later.
Joe Lacob's belief in Kuminga is well-documented. The Warriors' controlling owner was a major draft-night voice in 2021 when they selected Kuminga seventh. Lacob was seated courtside the entire Minnesota series as Kuminga shrugged off the rust and reminded the world about the scoring talent that resides within him.
'I was listening to the guys behind me tonight give running commentary — T'Wolves fans,' Lacob told The Athletic after Game 5. '(Kuminga)'s the guy they talked about all night long. He's the only guy that could really guard (Anthony Edwards) out there. Did a pretty damn good job. He had a tough situation with the DNPs from the last series, and to bounce back from that, I give him a lot of credit. I'm a big fan of his.'
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After the series, Lacob voiced to Kuminga his continued belief in his future and wanted the young forward to keep an open mind about returning, league sources said. He invited Kuminga to sit courtside with him for the WNBA franchise opener for the Golden State Valkyries. The gesture, broadcast everywhere locally, sent a clear signal to the outside world.
That isn't a guarantee of anything. Lacob invited Thompson to play golf the month before Thompson left the franchise for the Dallas Mavericks. But it'll be a high bar to clear for Lacob to greenlight a sign-and-trade where he parts with Kuminga.
Dunleavy hasn't been as profuse in his praise and has generated a level of decision-making power made most clear in his execution of the Butler trade last February, which is viewed internally as a big success. He's on record stating his plan to maximize the present. But Dunleavy also has been particular and patient in his asset management and has been clear that he believes Kuminga has a skill set that can help this core.
'I look at the things JK does well,' Dunleavy said at his exit interview. 'Getting to the rim, finishing, getting fouled. These are things we greatly need. We know he can bring those to the table. It's not hypothetical. It's not a guy in the draft that we think can do it. He's shown for four years he can do that. For that reason, we'll try to bring him back.'
The 'base year compensation' rule only applies to the summer sign-and-trade. Once Kuminga is trade-eligible again next December, his full salary would count for matching purposes, loosening up some of the handcuffs — while also making negotiations about his starting salary number more nuanced.
Kerr has stated an openness to a Kuminga return. He only gave the five-man lineup of Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Kuminga, Butler and Green 12 total minutes together down the stretch of the regular season. It closed a road win against the Los Angeles Lakers together well, but the other Kuminga, Butler and Green lineups didn't have a great output, and Kerr — in an urgent pre-playoff and playoff moment — went away from a rusty Kuminga, just back from a 31-game absence.
'If JK comes back, we will for sure spend the early part of the season playing him with Jimmy, Draymond, Steph,' Kerr said. 'To me, that would be a no-brainer. We didn't have that luxury this (past) year.'
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Curry (37) and Butler (35) will assuredly be managed throughout the regular season. It's very possible that Kuminga, by default, would be given a larger share of on-ball scoring opportunities for long stretches and would only earn more with success. The rest of the roster, as currently constructed, has shown its lack of creation punch.
Kuminga, league sources said, hasn't slammed the door shut on a return. Restricted free agency doesn't really allow it. The Warriors have ultimate control, regardless of his desire. But his comfort about the idea is dependent on several factors and there's a month of conversation and eventual negotiations ahead with competing agendas in the mix.
