![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2211207747-e1756294577312.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto by Alex Slitz\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a difficult summer for the Golden State Warriors<\/a>. Jonathan Kuminga<\/a>\u2018s contract saga has limited the franchise\u2019s ability to add new faces ahead of the 2025-26 NBA season.<\/p>\n Sooner or later, the Warriors will begin rounding out their roster. Al Horford<\/a> and De\u2019Anthony Melton<\/a> are both expected to sign deals with the franchise. However, ESPN\u2019s Anthony Slater<\/a> believes the Warriors\u2019 slow summer makes them the biggest candidates to take a swing at the February 2026 trade deadline.<\/p>\n Slater ranked Golden State first on his list of teams that could make a \u201cbig move\u201d closer to the deadline.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Warriors lead this list because they\u2019ve essentially spent the offseason signaling a desire for deadline movement,\u201d Slater wrote. \u201cTheir two-year, $45 million contract offer to restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga was designed to get him on a salary number they can flip come January.\u201d<\/p>\n Golden State also made a big swing at the February 6, 2025, trade deadline. They acquired Jimmy Butler<\/a> from the Miami Heat,<\/a> thus creating a new big three of Stephen Curry<\/a>, Draymond Green<\/a> and Butler. Still, the Warriors have plenty of tradeable assets and could once again go big-name shopping if the right deal presented itself.<\/p>\n Warriors Don\u2019t Want to Trade Buddy Hield<\/p>\n One player who appears to be safe in his current situation with the Warriors is Buddy Hield<\/a>. The veteran sharpshooter has been floated as a salary-matching tool in any potential Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade.<\/p>\n Yet, according to NBA Insider Jake Fischer, the Warriors have no interest in parting with Hield.<\/p>\n \u201cGolden State has refused this summer to even entertain sign-and-trade scenarios that would require it to surrender either Buddy Hield or\u00a0Moses Moody<\/a>\u00a0because of the limited options currently on the roster in terms of proven shooters,\u201d\u00a0Fischer reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hield enjoyed a strong debut season in the Bay Area. He played in all 82 games, averaging 11.1 points and 3.2 rebounds on 41.7% shooting from the field and 37% from deep.<\/p>\n Kuminga Doesn\u2019t Want to Return to Warriors<\/p>\n According to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, Kuminga\u2019s reluctance to sign a new deal with the Warriors is reportedly due to his desire to leave the franchise.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only reason Kuminga hasn\u2019t accepted this contract is because he truly doesn\u2019t want to return to the Warriors,\u201d Siegel reported<\/a>. \u201cTo change his mind \u2026 an understanding of what Kuminga wants will need to be at the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n Kuminga has struggled to establish himself as a key part of Steve Kerr\u2019s rotation. His role has consistently been chopped and changed, and his overall development has likely been stunted as a result. Kuminga may view a move away from the Warriors as what\u2019s best for his career.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, the Warriors still have some control over the situation. Kuminga is a restricted free agent. If Mike Dunleavy Jr. doesn\u2019t want to entertain a sign-and-trade, Kuminga\u2019s options are limited. At which point, the best thing he can do is sign his qualifying offer. That way, he will become an unrestricted free agent next summer.<\/p>\n Kuminga\u2019s contract stalemate has dragged on all summer. Sooner or later, both sides must reach a resolution. Still, no matter what happens, a trade deadline move looks increasingly likely. Who will emerge as the Warriors\u2019 target is anybody\u2019s guess, though.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAdam Taylor<\/a> is a basketball reporter covering the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns for Heavy. He has also written for CelticsBlog, USA Today, Yardbarker and FanSided. Adam has a bachelor\u2019s degree in creative writing from Open University. More about Adam Taylor<\/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":"Photo by Alex Slitz\/Getty Images Steve Kerr, Golden State Warriors It\u2019s been a difficult summer for the Golden…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-99810","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\/99810","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=99810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}