The Golden State Warriors reportedly are reluctant to deal away Jonathan Kuminga heading toward the NBA trade deadline because they like the growth they’re seeing from the 21-year-old.
“The Warriors are pleased with the growth of Jonathan Kuminga this season and are reluctant to trade him, I’m told,” NBA insider Michael Scotto said on the HoopsHype podcast. “Theoretically, it would take a package involving an All-Star player or an overpay of draft picks for Golden State to even consider trading him. Some wondered if Kuminga would be a trade candidate with the [Toronto] Raptors in Pascal Siakam talks. The Warriors and Raptors did have talks regarding Siakam, but nothing ever got close, and Toronto wasn’t as high on Kuminga as some assumed.”
The Raptors instead traded Siakam to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks. Siakam also may have been a target of the Sacramento Kings until something reportedly soured him on that idea.
Kuminga is averaging 14.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game in 41 appearances for the Warriors this season. He is coming off a 31-point performance against the Kings on Thursday which was his fifth straight game with at least 20 points.
“I do get the sense that organizationally, as you mentioned, that they’re very hesitant to put him (Kuminga) in a trade package, even though part of the reason is because his value leaguewide hadn’t been what the Warriors still view him to be, although I do think his value is rising because of how well he’s playing,” Anthony Slater of The Athletic said on the podcast.
“As long as he feels like he’s a 25-30 minute per night player every night, he’s completely fine with the Warriors. After the report we put out about Steve Kerr, he and Kerr had a long meeting in their office, and he kind of said in the aftermath everything was fine.”
Despite Kuminga’s contributions, the Warriors have been able to win just two of their past five games. It is part of an extended run of nine losses in their past 13 games that has dropped their record below .500 at 19-23.
The Warriors also had two recent games postponed following the death of assistant coach Dejan Milojevic.
It has been an incredibly turbulent season for Golden State so far. Draymond Green has been suspended twice by the NBA for unsportsmanlike acts. He recently returned from an indefinite ban that wound up being a 12-game suspension for striking Jusuf Nurkic of the Phoenix Suns in the face during a game in December. That followed an earlier punishment for putting Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves in a chokehold during a game in November.
After starting the season 5-1, Golden State has gone just 14-22 since. The disappointing tenor of the season reportedly also has raised some questions about the future of Kerr as head coach. According to NBA insider Shams Charania, there has been no progress on a new contract for the 58-year-old, whose deal expires after this season.
In addition, earlier this month there was a report that Kuminga had lost faith in Kerr’s ability to help him reach his potential. Despite that, Golden State reportedly has no intention of dealing Kuminga or Moses Moody before the deadline early next month.
However, other players on the Warriors may be made available as they look to find a way to improve in an attempt to salvage their disappointing campaign.
