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Jonathan Kuminga #1 of the Golden State Warriors sits on the the bench during their game against the New York Knicks during the second quarter at Chase Center on January 15, 2026 in San Francisco, California.
Despite everything the last few months have indicated, the Golden State Warriors have yet to trade Jonathan Kuminga.
Even after demanding a trade and with less than two weeks before the February 5th NBA trade deadline, the 23-year-old remains on the roster as the clock keeps ticking.The Jimmy Butler injury has complicated things, as Kuminga onlygot back into the rotation after theteam’s second-highest scorer went down, but regardless, thathasn’t presented anything close to a solution,as it relates to a trade.
Signs point to the Warriors trading Kuminga sometime soon, as, however bleak thefranchise’s future looks, the relationship between the two feels untenable. Golden State has been scouring the trade market for anyone they believe can better impact winning, but for now, and until a trade happens, nobody seems to fit that need just yet.
Warriors Top Targets In A Jonathan Kuminga Trade
Writing for Sports Illustrated, Joey Akeley detailed a ranked list of all the players the Warriors could, and likely should, target if or when they finally choose to trade Kuminga.
Most of the players Akeley listed havebeen linked to Golden State at some point. Some remain more realistic than others, some are extreme long-shots, and some might even be amajor upgrade from Kuminga, but the Warriors should at least entertain the idea of what their roster would look like with each of the following players.
Honorable mention: Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis Grizzlies
10-Miles Bridges, Charlotte Hornets
9-RJ Barrett, Toronto Raptors
8-Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings
7-Nic Claxton, Brooklyn Nets
6-Herb Jones, New Orleans Pelicans
5-Jermai Grant, Portland Trail Blazers
4-Naji Marshall, Dallas Mavericks
3-Andrew Wiggins, Miami Heat
2-Michael Porter Jr., Brooklyn Nets
1-Trey Murphy, New Orleans Pelicans
The first few listed big men can likelybe ruled out. Yes, Golden State might havebeen linked to them in the past, but with Butler now sidelined, the need for a wing has only grown. Not to say Draymond Green and Al Horford have even been above average this season, but at this point, trading Kuminga for a centerdoesn’t feel realistic.
As for the rest of the names, specifically from Jones down to Murphy, that is the meat of recent Warriors trade rumors.It’s been hard to decipher how willing the Pelicans are to trade either, but if they could muster a package for Murphy, he would probably even be an upgrade from Butler, with his top-tier 3-and-D, as well as facilitating abilities.
Marshall, Wiggins, and Porter are all solid options, yet likely for a high price tag. Marshall and Porter are playing the best basketball of their careers, so among those three, Wiggins remains the most likely option, as that remains a real possibility based on a recent report by Marc Stein.
Considering Kuminga is both injured and has been a net-negative for the Warriors this season, adding any of these names would likely be a step up for Golden State at this point.
Charles Barkley On Warriors, Jonathan Kuminga, And Steph Curry
The current Kuminga situation in Golden State has been dominating headlines for months, and most recently, Hall of Famer and current pundit Charles Barkley thought Saturday would finally be a good time to share his thoughts on the subject.
Speaking onESPN’s Inside the NBA, Barkley was blunt in saying the relationship is over between Kuminga and the Warriors, adding that hewouldn’t even be playing if Butlerdidn’t get hurt.
“That relationship is over.It’sreally unfortunate that Jimmy Butler got hurt.He’s a terrific guy and a terrific player. The Kuminga thing is over,”Barkley said. “He’s only playing because Jimmy got hurt.”
The former star and member of the Dream Team also added that Curry is the biggest loser of the whole situation. Kerr and theWarriors’ front office havebeen criticized in the past for howeverything has gone down, but Barkley made it clear that at this point in his career, Golden State is losing valuable time with Curry as long as Kuminga remains on the roster.
“The biggest loser in the whole thing is Steph because they were not contenders now,”he said. “Steph is gonna finish the last part of his career on a mediocre team.”
For now, nothing has changed.Kuminga is currently out with an injury, set to miss theteam’snow-postponed game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and as the days,even hours,go on, the chances of the Warriors finally trading Kuminga seem to be dwindling.