It is no secret that Golden State planned to test the trade market for Jonathan Kuminga around the trade deadline. That’s why the team played hardball with him last offseason, pushing him into a more tradeable contract, a two-year, $46.8 million deal with a team option on the second year.
Speculation about a Kuminga trade grew in the last 24 hours when he got a DNP-CD on Sunday in a game against Chicago where Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Al Horford were all out. The benching came a day after Kuminga had a 1-of-10 shooting outing in a loss in Cleveland.
“Just got to keep going, just like everybody else who’s in this position,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game, trying to play it all down, [via NBC Sports Bay Area](https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nba/golden-state-warriors/jonathan-kuminga-dnp-steve-kerr/1897495/). “And it happens to everybody, pretty much, other than the stars. Guys come in and out of the rotation depending on who’s available, how the team’s playing.”
Kuminga is averaging 12.4 points and 6.3 rebounds a game this season, but the numbers don’t do justice to the roller coaster road to get to this point. Kuminga averaged 16.2 points a game on 53.7% shooting through the first five games of the season, the Warriors were 4-1 and Kerr said he thought Kuminga was a permanent starter for the team. But things began to slide after that, and eight games later Kerr moved Kuminga to the bench. Kuminga missed the next seven games with knee tendonitis.
Since his return, Kuminga has averaged 7.8 points a game on 30% shooting.
Golden State still plans to test the Kuminga trade waters around the deadline (he cannot be traded until after Jan. 15), [reports Anthony Slater at ESPN](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47243592/jonathan-kuminga-gets-dnp-shorthanded-warriors-win-again).
_The Warriors are expected to explore the Kuminga trade market in the weeks ahead as the probability of a split before the February deadline remains strong, according to league sources._
There may be a team willing to take a flier on Kuminga, believing a new setting and an offense that better suits his style — more one-on-one isolation attacking — could be the ticket. However, circumstances have changed for the teams reportedly interested in Kuminga last summer, Sacramento and Phoenix, and their current level of interest is up for debate. Kuminga’s ongoing minutes fluctuation under Kerr isn’t going to help his trade market, either.