![\"Jonathan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2178792417-e1729877678507.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Jonathan Kuminga maintains focus amid uncertain future with Golden State Warriors. <\/p>\n
The Golden State Warriors<\/a> and Jonathan Kuminga remain at an impasse over contract negotiations<\/a>, meaning the Congolese forward may be forced to accept his qualifying offer and play out the 2025-26 season in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n In such a scenario, Golden State will need to find an athletic wing to replace Kuminga starting with the 2026-27 season. Blue Man Hoop\u2019s G.C. Bellchamber<\/a> believes Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington \u2014 an unrestricted free agent in 2026<\/a> \u2014 would be a seamless fit in Steve Kerr\u2019s system and the ideal player to replace Kuminga.<\/p>\n Bellchamber argues that since the Mavericks already have an abundance of wings and forwards on the roster, including\u00a0Max Christie, Caleb Martin, Naji Marshall<\/a>, Cooper Flagg and Anthony Davis, Washington could be on the trading block eventually.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile he was a vital part of the team\u2019s run to the NBA Finals in 2024, changing circumstances in the organization, including their acquisition of Anthony Davis and their surprising opportunity to draft Cooper Flagg, means that their line-up is now stacked with pieces who can play the four,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Mavs Keen to Retain Washington<\/p>\n \u201cTherefore, it is quite possible that Washington, under normal circumstances, could be on the trade block sooner rather than later.\u201d<\/p>\n Further to the writer\u2019s point, NBA insider Marc Stein reported that the Mavericks are keen to extend Washington, ensuring he doesn\u2019t become a free agent in 2026.<\/p>\n According to Stein, the Mavericks are \u2018likely\u2019 to lock up Washington<\/a> to a four-year, $90 million extension when he becomes eligible to sign a new deal on Friday, Aug. 29. If Washington inks the extension, he won\u2019t be eligible to be traded for at least six months.<\/p>\n Once the 2026 offseason rolls around, the Mavericks may move Washington, believes Bellchamber, giving the Warriors the perfect opportunity to trade for him.<\/p>\n Washington, a Plug-and-Play Piece<\/p>\n \u201cWhile it is highly unlikely that the Mavericks would have any interest in Kuminga, given their aforementioned logjam in the frontcourt, the Warriors are also almost certainly planning on moving on from Kuminga\u00a0sometime within the next year.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTherefore, if they are eventually\u00a0able to offload Kuminga\u2019s salary to an interested team, they could then set their sights on Washington as the ideal addition in their frontcourt. Although the fit with Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green would be complicated, Washington has shown a willingness to fit his game to whatever role is needed for a contending team, and bringing his dynamic skill-set into Golden State could propel them towards immediate title contention.\u201d<\/p>\n Unlike Kuminga \u2014 who thrives with the ball in his hand \u2014 Washington is adept at playing off the ball as both a cutter and catch-and-shoot threat. In one-and-a-half seasons in Dallas, he has averaged 13.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks while making an impressive 1.7 threes per game.<\/p>\n Washington played a critical role in helping the Mavericks reach the 2024 NBA Finals, as he made 2.1 threes per game while guarding the opponent\u2019s best wing player. He put up a stellar performance in the 2024 Western Conference semifinals<\/a> series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, when he finished as Dallas\u2019 second-leading scorer.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSai Mohan<\/a> covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Warriors\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Jonathan Kuminga maintains focus amid uncertain future with Golden State Warriors. The Golden State Warriors and Jonathan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-99524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99524","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=99524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}