All summer long, the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga were linked for a potential sign-and-trade that would send Kuminga to the state capitol in exchange for guard Malik Monk and the team’s 2030 first-round pick (lottery protected) to the Warriors,” according to Sam Amick of The Athletic.
That deal was turned down at the time because Golden State believed Kuminga’s talents, age, and potential warranted no protections on the pick, but Sacramento, who is notorious for having early to mid lottery picks, was in no rush to remove any chance of getting the superstar talent they so desperately have been searching for all of these years; thus no deal was made.
Kuminga would go on to sign a two-year, $48.5 million contract extension with the Golden State Warriors, which includes a team option for the second year. With the signing of the deal, Kuminga also made himself ineligible for trade by the team until after January 15th, when all players who signed offseason contracts can be moved.
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More on Jonathan Kuminga & the Sacramento Kings
Jonathan Kuminga, then a restricted free agent, explored every option possible to find his way out of Golden State after constantly feeling at the center of blame, particularly by head coach Steve Kerr, for the Warriors’ lack of championship standards.
During a six-game stretch where Kuminga entered the starting unit, the longest stretch he had last season, he averaged 20.8 points per game, 5.2 rebounds per game, and 1.2 blocks per game in 32.2 minutes per game while shooting 49% from the field and 40% from three (4.2 attempts).
Those are very solid numbers, especially from a fourth-year, 22-year-old, former lottery pick, who had just the season prior entered the starting unit for the second-half stretch and put up averages of 19.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists, on 52.7% from the field in 30.4 minutes per game in 29 consecutive starts where the Warriors went 18-11. Kuminga missed the next 6 games with knee tendinitis and never regained rotational consistency.
Which brings us to today, Anthony Slater of ESPN, wrote today “The Warriors lost five of their next seven. Kuminga’s turnovers spiked, and his performance dipped. Searching for rotation answers, Kerr demoted Kuminga back to a bench role, reopening old wounds. ‘He feels like the scapegoat again,’ one team source said.”
Jonathan Kuminga once again finds himself on the outside looking in on the rotation, and feeling unwanted and undervalued by a franchise that is considered by many to still be the “gold standard” of the NBA (pun slightly intended).
A rough start to the Kings’ season finds them at 3-12 through their first 15 games, searching for direction and purpose, especially without Keegan Murray, the team’s most promising young talent.
It’s apparent to anyone who has watched, “The Beam Team” could use a recharge.
Jonathan Kuminga (23) would be the 2nd youngest player on the Kings roster, only to 2025 2nd round pick Maxime Raynaud (22), but would have more playoff experience, 34 games, than Domantas Sabonis (20), Zach LaVine (4), and Malik Monk (7) combined.
It won’t be easy for Sacramento Kings General Manager Scott Perry, as he will have to negotiate against what I believe to be the “older brother” Warriors, refusing to let their “little bro” Kings have any sort of publicly perceived victory in a deal that I’m sure would be internally hard for Warriors brass to swallow.
Due to the restrictions, negotiations between the two NorCal rivals can’t begin until the turn of the new year, but even as we sit a week from stuffing, turkey, and hopefully some mac & cheese, it’s clear the Kings should be back in on Jonathan Kuminga.
Sacramento should be willing to do whatever it takes to turn its roster of dated veterans into a more youthful bunch heading into what could be a franchise-shifting draft and a direction-altering offseason.
Upcoming Sacramento Kings schedule for the 2025-26 season
Thursday, November 20th – @ Memphis Grizzlies – 5:00 PM PT
Saturday, November 22nd – @ Denver Nuggets – 7:00 PM PT
Monday, November 24th – vs. Minnesota Timberwolves – 7:00 PM PT
Wednesday, November 26th – vs. Phoenix Suns – 7:00 PM PT
Friday, November 28th – @ Utah Jazz – 6:30 PM PT
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