More than half of the teams in the NBA reportedly have some level of interest in Jonathan Kuminga of the Golden State Warriors, but it isn’t believed that his team intends to part with him.
“The [Indiana] Pacers clearly have checked in,” NBA insider Anthony Slater said of Kuminga. “I know in the past, the [Toronto] Raptors have had conversations. We know the Warriors have checked in on O.G. Anunoby dating back to the deadline. Who wouldn’t want a 6-foot-7 freak athlete wing with some high upside offensively, and he’s shown flashes of being an incredible individual defender. … If you’re around the league and you see him out of the rotation in the playoffs, you’re probably thinking this is a perfect buy-low candidate in a league obsessed with wings. If we really named who’s actually interested in Kuminga, there are probably 17 teams out there, though some more than others.”
Kuminga averaged 9.9 points per game in the 2022-23 season with the Warriors. The 20-year-old averaged almost 21 minutes per game during the regular season, but that dropped to just over six minutes per game in the playoffs, which ended for Golden State with a series loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round.
“Do I see him on the Warriors next season? Yes,” Slater continued on Kuminga. “I don’t think he’s going to be traded. I don’t think he was being shopped. I think the Warriors – and as we’re seeing in the Mike Dunleavy era – are very willing to have any conversation you’re willing to have as long as you’re not asking for Stephen Curry. They were adamant when a report came out that it sounded like they were shopping him high in the draft that they weren’t shopping him. They’d answer inbound calls on him.
“Through conversations with people behind the scenes about rotations and various roster spots next year, he’s part of the Warriors’ plans moving forward. There’s still a belief in his talent. The thing is, it’s got to fit.”
The Warriors already made one of the biggest moves of the NBA offseason so far by acquiring Chris Paul in a trade with the Washington Wizards and parting with Jordan Poole.
Golden State also has a key player hitting free agency in Draymond Green, and though it has been thought he’ll re-sign with the Warriors, the organization may be “sweating” a possible offer from the Sacramento Kings.
Green seemingly agrees with the idea that he is worth at least $100 million in free agency. If he does depart, the Warriors may have to consider where Kuminga would bring the most value, whether that’s as a player to keep on the team or someone they could use in a trade to further change the makeup of the roster.
It is clear that the Warriors want to make as many runs at an NBA championship as they can while Curry is around, and they reportedly moved on from Poole in part because they considered him “extraneous” and “inefficient.” If they do move on from Kuminga also, it would be interesting to see their rationale for that move.
Golden State’s last championship came in the 2022 NBA Finals when the team defeated the Boston Celtics in six games. The Warriors have won four titles in less than a decade.
