The day has finally arrived. It’s officially January 15 at the NBA league offices in New York and Secaucus, and for the Golden State Warriors, that means one thing: Jonathan Kuminga is now eligible to be traded.
Most NBA players can be traded at any point, or become eligible on December 15. But a select few — including 11 this season — are not eligible to be traded until January 15. Kuminga was one such player.
The date has been circled on the calendar of Warriors fans, NBA fans, and, likely, Kuminga and his agent, for quite a while. When there was limited traction for a sign-and-trade or long-term contract during the offseason, Kuminga returned to the Warriors on what was essentially a one-year contract that agent Aaron Turned yassified to look and sound better than it actually was. From the moment pen hit paper, it was understood that the Warriors were likely to work with Kuminga to help him find a new home between January 15 and the trade deadline on February 5.
That plan briefly hit the pause button when Kuminga was — surprisingly — named an Opening Night starter, and shined in that role for a few games. But it wasn’t long after Steve Kerr had stated that Kuminga would be the starter for the foreseeable future that the 2021 lottery pick was back to coming off the bench. From there the minutes dwindled and dwindled, until he was out of the rotation entirely, starting on December 7. He returned to the court less than two weeks later — on December 18 — after Kerr had lauded the athletic wing’s recent practices, and said that he deserved to be back in the rotation. But he played fewer than 10 minutes in that game, and we haven’t seen him in action since then.
Kuminga hasn’t been playing in garbage time during his time out of the rotation, and was a late scratch with a back injury in the one game where the Warriors were resting all their stars, and bound to play him. All of that has led to speculation that the forward’s lack of playing time is, at least partially, at his request, as he seeks to stay healthy for potential trade partners. Despite the potentially awkward situation, the team has been complimentary when talking about Kuminga, with Draymond Green extolling his teammate’s attitude and [locker room presence](/warriors-news/107018/dub-hub-draymond-green-praises-jonathan-kumingas-locker-room-presence).
It seems there aren’t a ton of suitors for Kuminga, which isn’t very surprising given the lack of movement during the offseason. And it’s no sure thing that the Warriors will trade him … with his contract coming off the books this summer, they won’t be incentivized to move him unless they get a deal that they truly believe makes the team better, either in the short term or the long term.
But if you thought the rumors were persistent before, then gear up: you ain’t seen nothing yet.