{"id":417245,"date":"2026-01-16T16:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T16:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/417245\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T16:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T16:22:10","slug":"stephen-curry-jimmy-butler-and-draymond-green-react-to-jonathan-kumingas-trade-request","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/417245\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, And Draymond Green React To Jonathan Kuminga’s Trade Request"},"content":{"rendered":"

Golden State Warriors<\/a> forward Jonathan Kuminga<\/a> became eligible to be traded on Thursday, and it didn\u2019t take him long to ask out. NBA insiders Shams Charania and Anthony Slater reported that Kuminga has demanded a trade away from the Warriors<\/a>, as he looks to end what has been a frustrating tenure with the franchise.<\/p>\n

Despite the Kuminga situation hanging over them like a dark cloud, the Warriors managed to beat the New York Knicks<\/a> 126-113 at Chase Center on Thursday. Warriors superstar Stephen Curry<\/a> was asked postgame<\/a> about this situation potentially serving as a distraction, and he made it clear it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a distraction at all,\u201d Curry said, via Slater. \u201cIt\u2019s a very unique situation, but our job is to just keep playing, keep winning. It\u2019ll resolve itself one way or the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked why this wouldn\u2019t be a distraction with so much noise about it, Curry had a simple response.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve been around for the last three, four years, Curry stated. \u201cWe\u2019ve done it this whole time. So, very, very well trained in this area to just play basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curry was also asked if he had spoken to Kuminga in the last couple of days, and said they hadn\u2019t discussed this topic. Fellow longtime Warrior Draymond Green<\/a> has stated this won\u2019t be a distraction either, and he was full of praise for Kuminga in his postgame interview on NBA on Prime<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s dealing with it better than probably I would,\u201d Green said. \u201c\u2026 The way he\u2019s dealt with this at 23 years old, I tip my hat to him because he\u2019s stayed engaged, he\u2019s in here working out every day, his attitude is the same every day. He comes in with a smile, he\u2019s talking. He almost talks too much on the bench, and that is a compliment in itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you are 23 years old,\u201d Green continued. \u201cYou sign a big contract with the team that drafted you with the seventh pick\u2026 things are looking up, and then it doesn\u2019t. How do you respond to that? How do you react? And the way he\u2019s reacted and responded to this will not only carry the rest of his basketball career, but his demeanor will carry him the rest of his life well because he\u2019s been incredible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tip my hat to him,\u201d Green added. \u201c\u2026 He\u2019s staying ready. So like I said on the show, whether he\u2019s here past the deadline or whether he\u2019s moved past the deadline, one thing\u2019s for certain is he\u2019ll be in shape, and he\u2019ll be ready. He brings a great attitude\u2026 He\u2019s one of the best young guys I\u2019ve been around.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is quite the endorsement. Some players certainly would have reacted in a far worse manner than Kuminga has. He hasn\u2019t played a single minute in any of the Warriors\u2019 last 14 games, and hasn\u2019t lashed out or done anything along those lines.<\/p>\n

Head coach Steve Kerr<\/a> had given Kuminga, who has averaged 11.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.3 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game in 2025-26, a DNP for 13 of those. He looked set to feature on Jan. 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> as multiple players were out, but was a late scratch due to lower back soreness.<\/p>\n

There has been plenty of talk about the head coach and player not getting along, but Kerr stated that his relationship with Kuminga is fine<\/a>. He called it a tough situation, but had no interest in sharing any details about their conversations.<\/p>\n

While Kuminga has been around Curry, Green, and Kerr his entire career, it sure has seemed like he\u2019s closest to Jimmy Butler<\/a>, who only arrived via trade from the Miami Heat<\/a> in February 2025. Butler made it clear postgame<\/a> that he and the rest of the team will have a lot of love for the 23-year-old even if he\u2019s no longer with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love JK in this locker room,\u201d Butler said, via Slater. \u201cThat\u2019s not going to change. If that happens to not be in here, we still rock with JK. I speak for everybody\u2026 We love the guy. I wish him the best here. I wish him the best wherever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Butler was also asked if he would like the Warriors to ship Kuminga out of town so that he can get his career off the ground elsewhere, and he did not want to get dragged into that.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, hey, hey, hey,\u201d Butler said. \u201cIt don\u2019t got nothing to do with me. I want JK to be happy. At the end of the day, that\u2019s what I want. Whatever brings him his joy and his happiness, that\u2019s what I want for my brother. Not my friend. That\u2019s my brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

A move away does seem to be what will bring Kuminga happiness. It\u2019s a pity that things just didn\u2019t work out here.<\/p>\n

The Warriors had selected Kuminga with the seventh pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. He was seen as a key piece of their young core, but was never quite able to establish himself on the team for one reason or another.<\/p>\n

Kuminga\u2019s being a starter for the first 12 games of this season gave hope that things were finally changing, but it wasn\u2019t to be. Parting ways is in the best interests of both parties.<\/p>\n

We have listed the five best landing spots for Kuminga<\/a>, and a lot of eyes will be on this situation as we get closer to the Feb. 5 trade deadline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga became eligible to be traded on Thursday, and it didn\u2019t take him…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-417245","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}