{"id":129333,"date":"2026-01-11T17:31:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T17:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/129333\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T17:31:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T17:31:43","slug":"with-jonathan-kuminga-the-warriors-cant-wait-around-for-the-perfect-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/129333\/","title":{"rendered":"With Jonathan Kuminga, the Warriors can\u2019t wait around for the perfect trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section 415 email newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to the Section 415 podcast wherever you listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a style of joke, in television and film, that drags out so egregiously long that it starts out funny, then becomes not funny at all, and eventually comes all the way back around to hilarious. Think the Austin Powers Mustafa gag. (opens in new tab)<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s Jonathan Kuminga and his rollercoaster tenure with the Warriors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The cycle of Kuminga\u2019s career\u00a0 \u2014 tease a breakthrough, slip up, lose Steve Kerr\u2019s trust, deal with trade rumors, repeat \u2014 has been dark humor. It was no longer funny this past summer, when contract negotiations seeped into training camp<\/a>. It\u2019s hilarious now, as Kerr has banished the young wing to the bench for over a month, inserting even more awkwardness into the bit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for Golden State to end the joke. To get serious.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A league source described the market for Kuminga on Friday as warming, with multiple teams registering varied interest. The Kings, whom the Warriors destroyed on Friday, are among the teams fond of Kuminga.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s great for the Warriors. They need to take advantage. They have no excuse for failing to find a trade partner to unload a player who is providing the current team zero value.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For as tense as the past summer was for Kuminga\u2019s camp and the Warriors, they agreed to structure his deal in the most tradeable manner possible. That\u2019s, of course, not a coincidence. Because Kuminga is making $22.5 million this year with a team option for $24.3 million next year, he\u2019s not only at a salary that can be easily aggregated in trades, but he\u2019s also on an expiring contract this year or next. He\u2019s a prime example of a potential low-risk acquisition, because a team can eject for cap relief if they don\u2019t like what they see or hammer out an extension if Kuminga balls out.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

1 day ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

4 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday, Jan. 2<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

There are teams across the league who are interested in Kuminga because of his potential as a 23-year-old dynamic athlete. Practically any team outside of the inner circle of contenders could be intrigued by that contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kuminga becomes trade-eligible on Jan. 15, but don\u2019t expect a breaking news tweet when the clock strikes midnight; multiple sources indicated the Warriors don\u2019t have a trade lined up. Under general manager Mike Dunleavy, Golden State tends to operate with pragmatism and patience, and will intend to execute the best deal possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the Warriors shouldn\u2019t be too picky. The \u201cperfect\u201d trade for Kuminga, a distressed asset getting DNPs, will probably never come. If one doesn\u2019t appear in the month leading up to Feb. 5, it almost certainly won\u2019t be available next summer when Kuminga\u2019s contract becomes slightly less appealing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some trade offers might be hard to swallow from a value perspective for the former seventh overall pick, but Kuminga is a sunk cost. The Warriors need to turn him into someone, anyone, that can help the team win this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year\u201d is the operative phrase. Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler are each playing at All-Star levels in their late-30s. They and Draymond Green \u2014 who\u2019s showing signs of rebounding after a horrendous December \u2014 talk about how much fun they still have \u201cchasing something meaningful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Warriors have no intention of trading Curry, Butler, or Green. They want to do what they can to give the veterans a chance at playing competitive basketball in April and May.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Warriors owe their stars that much. Cashing in Kuminga for a player who can slot into Kerr\u2019s rotation helps them accomplish that goal. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The team shouldn\u2019t wait too long to pounce, either. The earlier Golden State makes a move, the more time it\u2019ll have to evaluate its roster before the Feb. 5 trade deadline. And the closer the Warriors get to the deadline without a transaction, the more other teams can use Golden State\u2019s desperation as leverage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Warriors have won eight of their past 11 games, settling into a set starting lineup and rotation behind it. But much of this hot stretch came against poor opponents such as Utah, Charlotte, and Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

One of the Warriors\u2019 three losses in that span was a 103-102 defeat to the Clippers in which Golden State shot a season-low 24% from deep. Kuminga, as he has been for over a month now, was out of the rotation. Would Golden State have won the game if, for example, John Collins played 20 minutes instead of Kuminga\u2019s DNP? How about Boston\u2019s Anfernee Simons? Portland\u2019s Jerami Grant?<\/p>\n

Maybe a change of scenery would do wonders for Khris Middleton (who comes off Washington\u2019s books after this year anyway). If the Cavaliers continue to stumble, perhaps they\u2019d listen on center Jarrett Allen or wing De\u2019Andre Hunter. Hornets forward Miles Bridges and Kings wing DeMar DeRozan can get a bucket.\u00a0<\/p>\n

None of those are perfect players. Far from it. But they\u2019d each play for the Warriors. Kuminga, famously, does not play for the Warriors. A marginal talent upgrade is far better than dragging out this humiliation ritual.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Warriors made their home-run swing last year with the Butler trade, and it has been fabulous. It doesn\u2019t seem like another blockbuster is materializing at the moment. And while patience helped in the Butler situation, urgency is required now; it could be too late for Curry and Butler by the time the next disgruntled star becomes available.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Warriors covet Trey Murphy, but the Pelicans have made clear they want to keep their nucleus that also includes Herb Jones, Zion Williamson, and Derik Queen intact. Michael Porter Jr. is starring in Brooklyn, but the Nets may prefer to keep him because they don\u2019t control their own pick next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There is a non-zero chance the Warriors don\u2019t field an offer they deem sufficient, hold onto Kuminga, and try again in the summer. Unlikely, but not impossible. That scenario would be a complete catastrophe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dunleavy and his front office need to act now, in weeks between Jan. 15 and Feb. 5. Waiting until the offseason means punting on this year, risking turning a fading dynasty into a dead one. Curry and Butler remain elite, but will they still be elite next year, when they\u2019re 39 and 38?\u00a0<\/p>\n

If the Warriors get through the deadline without dealing Kuminga, the Kuminga running joke will continue. Only they\u2019ll be the punchline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[7000,7009,101,103,102,104,106,105,127,17007],"class_list":{"0":"post-129333","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-golden-state-warriors","9":"tag-jonathan-kuminga","10":"tag-san-francisco","11":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","12":"tag-san-francisco-news","13":"tag-sf","14":"tag-sf-headlines","15":"tag-sf-news","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-steve-kerr"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}