The Golden State Warriors have been negotiating with restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga for seemingly the entire offseason, but there has been no headway between the two sides. With other pieces of the NBA free agency puzzle, like Al Horford, still waiting to see where Kuminga lands, the standstill in the Bay Area marches on.
According to ESPN's Anthony Slater and Shams Charania, there has at least been some bargaining behind the scenes, but nothing has been done about the two-year, $45 million offer (with a team option on the second season and without Kuminga's requested no-trade clause) on the table.
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Some of the bargaining in question surrounded a deal with the Phoenix Suns.
Per the ESPN insiders, the Warriors "shut down sign-and-trades," specifically dealing with Royce O'Neale and a second-round pick as the would-be return.
Phoenix also included a reported four-year, $80 to $88 million deal with a player option, as well as pitching Kuminga to take the now-vacant power forward role that superstar Kevin Durant left.
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Although another wrinkle in this saga, Kuminga's relationship with head coach Steve Kerr, has been criticized by the greater basketball world, Charania and Slater reported that there is no longer a rift.
"Kuminga's personal relationship with Kerr isn't a problem. The messaging from Kerr and the Warriors is that Kuminga would have a substantial role to open next season, per sources. They could use his youth and scoring on the wing. But in negotiations, Kuminga's side has regularly referred to some postseason comments where Kerr highlighted the difficulty of fitting Kuminga next to Curry, Butler and Green for heavy minutes and expecting to win at the highest level.
"It's proof to them that the basketball fit is less than ideal for the trajectory of Kuminga's career."
The stalemate between the two sides is perhaps best encapsulated by a brief exchange Kuminga and Warriors owner Joe Lacob reportedly had. Lacob asked the 22-year-old one question: "Do you want to be here?"
Kuminga responded with a question of his own:
"Do you even want me here?"
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