As the Golden State Warriors await the start of their first-round matchup against the Houston Rockets, even casual observers of the team have likely noticed that Jonathan Kuminga is suddenly out of the team’s rotation.
Despite averaging 15.3 points (third among players still on the team after the Jimmy Butler trade), Kuminga sat the entirety of Golden State’s final regular season game and it’s only play-in contest.
And on Friday, The San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami dove deep into the benching and what it means for Kuminga’s future with the Warriors.
“I can’t see Kuminga and [head coach Steve] Kerr finding a lot of common ground from here,” Kawakami wrote. “I can’t see the Warriors wanting to pay Kuminga anything close to market value — probably about $28 million a year or higher — if the coach doesn’t believe in him and the stars aren’t sure they want to be on the floor with him. I can’t see Kuminga wanting to stay here a second longer than it takes to figure out his next team.”
He may get that chance this summer. Kuminga’s rookie contract expires as soon as this season is over. But he may not be able to simply walk away. The Warriors would have the chance to match any offer sheet he signs. And that little bit of leverage could have them thinking about a potential sign-and-trade to send Kuminga to a team that would have a bigger role available for him.
“The Warriors hate letting valuable assets go for nothing, and Kuminga is absolutely still an asset,” Kawakami added. “Restricted free agency is complicated, so Mike Dunleavy would have to work through a lot of things to get something worthwhile in return for Kuminga.”
Well, fortunately for Dunleavy, we worked through some of those things for him. Using a hypothetical contract structure in line with Kawakami’s $28 million estimate above, here’s a three-team trade that would send Kuminga to a rebuilding team where he could shine, land the Warriors some depth and give the Sacramento Kings a point guard.
