The 2025-26 NBA season is right around the corner, with every team starting up training camp this week, with the exception of a few that started last week. More notably, media day is on Monday, where fans finally get answers to their long-desired offseason questions.
The Golden State Warriors, however, will have a very intriguing media day. One topic of discussion will be much more prevalent than others: Jonathan Kuminga.
May 16, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga (center left) talks with owner Joe Lacob (center right) during the second quarter of the game between the Golden State Valkyries and the Los Angeles Sparks at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
Kuminga, a 22-year-old restricted free agent, has yet to sign a new contract with the Warriors after an offseason of negotiations, and the clock is ticking. Of course, with training camp starting on Tuesday, the Warriors would love to get a deal done as soon as possible, but nothing has come to life yet.
Kuminga has spent all of his summer outside of San Francisco as he trains and lets his agent negotiate his next contract, and Monday will be no different. Despite the team having media day on Monday, Kuminga is reportedly not traveling to San Francisco and will not be in attendance.
“Kuminga did not travel to San Francisco this weekend and won’t be in attendance for Monday’s media day, league sources told ESPN. Golden State general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. made contact with Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner, on Sunday, but there’s no momentum toward a Kuminga contract or return prior to the team’s first practice on Tuesday,” ESPN’s Anthony Slater and Shams Charania reported.
ESPN story with @anthonyVslater: RFA Jonathan Kuminga will not be in attendance for Golden State Warriors media day on Monday as the sides’ contract stalemate continues into the basketball portion of the NBA calendar.https://t.co/w6bapzpK1w
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 29, 2025
Kuminga’s deadline to accept the qualifying offer is Wednesday, October 1, at 11:59 p.m. ET. This qualifying offer is worth $7.9 million, which is significantly less than Golden State’s offers for him, but it includes a no-trade clause and allows him to hit unrestricted free agency in the 2026 offseason.
The Warriors want to avoid Kuminga signing the qualifying offer, as they would ultimately lose him for nothing next summer. It is obvious that the Warriors are simply waiting to get the best possible trade offer out of Kuminga, as he does not seem to have a future in Golden State, but this qualifying offer would ruin their plans.
It seems that negotiations between the two sides are not going well, and Kuminga not even being in San Francisco for media day, suggests that this will not end as smoothly as everyone would hope. There will certainly be plenty of noise around Kuminga’s situation at media day, nonetheless.