Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors Right to Still Explore Trade After New Contract, NBA Rumors
ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reported that Jonathan Kuming and the Golden State Warriors agreed Tuesday to a two-year, $48.5 million contract, ending an icy, standoffish period in their tumultuous relationship.
For now.
Charania noted in his initial report that the deal was designed specifically "to be ripped up and renegotiated next summer." In a second post on X, he noted, "Now, both sides understand likelihood of exploring trades when Kuminga is eligible in January."
And both the player and team are right to still explore trades come the start of the new year, despite the newly signed contract.
Kuminga has not wavered on his desire to play an expanded role with the team. His agent, Aaron Turner, told 95.7 The Fan as much just five days before the new deal was signed.
"He wants to be a focal point of a team. He wants a bigger role. That's not really a secret," Turner said (h/t Warriors Wire).
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has been open about continuing to run the team's offense through its established stars, though, a point of contention between the future Hall of Famer and his young player.
He previously told Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard, "And for me, I've been asked to win. And right now, he's not a guy who I can say I'm going to play 38 minutes with the roster that we have — Steph [Curry] and Jimmy [Butler] and Draymond [Green] — and put the puzzle together that way and expect to win."
Kuminga played just 24.3 minutes last season, averaging 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and shooting 45.4 percent from the field. He has shown flashes of greatness, but the inconsistency with which he gets floor time in key moments has prevented him from establishing himself as the star that many believed he could be when he entered the league in 2022.
He starts some games, then is relegated to the bench for others, sometimes with no apparent rhyme or reason.
With no clear indication that the new contract comes with any guarantees about playing time or an increased role in the offense this coming season, there is no reason to believe that Kuminga will not experience the same frustration that has plagued him over the last three seasons.
Rather than continuing to put a Band-Aid on what has become a gaping wound for the Warriors, dominating headlines and taking attention away from other elements of a playoff-contending team, both sides should continue exploring a trade that will net Golden State assets in return and give Kuminga the opportunity to finally sink or swim on a consistent basis.
