Warriors Would Be Foolish to Trade Jonathan Kuminga amid NBA Rumors

The initial belief that inspired the Golden State Warriors to make Jonathan Kuminga the No. 7 pick of the 2021 NBA draft has surely been shaken across his four uneven seasons together.

It shouldn't have been wiped out, though.

While the scoring swingman appears an imperfect fit for coach Steve Kerr's preferred system, Kuminga's talent is obvious. And when he's had chances to produce, he has typically delivered on those opportunities.

Between Kerr's apparent lack of trust in Kuminga and the cash-strapped state of the free-agent market, it's no surprise to see the sluggish nature of Kuminga's venture into restricted free agency. It should be, however, disheartening for Dubs fans to hear where things might be headed.

The Sacramento Kings are reportedly "very engaged" on a Kuminga deal, per KXTV's Matt George, who added the club is trying to build an offer around Devin Carter, Dario Šarić and draft compensation. If that's how far Kuminga's market has cratered, Golden State should forget about a sign-and-trade and focus on finding the right way to keep around a 22-year-old who just averaged 20.8 points on 54.3 percent shooting in the conference semifinals—after being out of the rotation to start the postseason, no less.

For those in need of a snapshot summary of this offer, Carter was hurt at the start of his rookie season and almost unusable on offense upon his return (3.8 points on 37/29.5/59.1 shooting). He's also more than six months older than Kuminga.

Šarić, Warriors fans surely remember, underwhelmed during his lone season in Golden State, which he ended out of the rotation. What Dubs fans may not have known, though, is that he was even worse for the Denver Nuggets this past season, making just 16 unproductive appearances and not logging even a second during the team's 14 playoff games.

So, this would basically boil down to the draft compensation, which would only help the Stephen Curry-Jimmy Butler-Draymond Green core if it was immediately reinvested in the trade market. And even then it probably isn't bringing back a player with comparable talent to Kuminga (let alone his upside).

The Warriors, of course, have other irons in this fire. They're having conversations with "several teams on periphery" and there is "nothing near the finish line" regarding Kuminga's free agency, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.

That said, it's unlikely the Warriors will find much better on the trade market. It doesn't sound like the Miami Heat have made him a priority. Nothing seems to be brewing with the Chicago Bulls. The Brooklyn Nets seemingly bowed out of this race well ahead of free agency.

This is a brutal market for restricted free agents, and Kuminga is a polarizing player. No enticing sign-and-trade scenarios are obviously on the way.

So, why are the Warriors trying to force this? When Door No. 1 involves keeping a young, talented, mega-athletic player at a presumably reasonably rate, why bother incessantly beating down Door No. 2? Especially when no one's answering.

Despite the complicated nature of the Kerr-Kuminga relationship, this situation seems straightforward.

Golden State can, should and hopefully will sign Kuminga at some point sooner than later and focus on finding the right for him alongside the veteran stars. If he becomes a more consistent defender, a more active rebounder and a quicker decision-maker, he could become a star role player who keeps hinting at even brighter days ahead.

If those developments don't materialize, the Dubs can always revisit trade scenarios at a later date, when the market may offer many more opportunities than are available now.