Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors
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Trayce Jackson-Davis of the Golden State Warriors hold back Jonathan Kuminga after the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Jonathan Kuminga standoff is holding the Golden State Warriors‘ offseason hostage.
With both camps unwilling to accept each other’s offers, this could drag into the fall and could explode by training camp if the stalemate goes unresolved.
The crux of the matter, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania and Anthony Slater, is the battle of control over Kuminga’s future.
Kuminga does not want to cede “too much control to a franchise he believes has stunted and strung his career along for four seasons,” according to Charania and Kuminga. His agent presented a three-year deal worth $82 million in one of their several meetings in Las Vegas during the NBA Summer League, per Charania and Slater, but the Warriors countered.
They offered a two-year, $45 million contract with a team option on the second year that is designed to be traded after the six-month moratorium. But they also asked Kuminga to relinquish the inherent no-trade clause that will give them the power to trade him to the highest bidder, not necessarily to a team that will give Kuminga the playing time and major role he’s desperately craving.
Kuminga has rejected the Warriors’ offer and is in no rush to get a deal done, according to Charania.
‘Grand Compromise’ Proposed
Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors.
Getty Jonathan Kuminga wants out of the Golden State Warriors.
Kuminga appears determined to make the situation untenable for the Warriors, who have held off their projected offseason signings of Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II.
Before the volatile situation could rear its ugly head, Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard offered what he called a “grand compromise” to keep Kuminga at The Bay until the next trade deadline.
When it happens, it likely should involve the Warriors upping the guarantee in the second year of their offer — from $0 to perhaps $14 million, so the total guarantee would be above $30 million over two years. (And by giving him a second-year guarantee, the Warriors would wipe out Kuminga’s right to block a trade next season.)
This would give the Warriors more credence when they argue that they’ve got the highest offer on the table and would likely still be a very tradeable contract in February or next July. This also would give Kuminga more security than what the Warriors are offering right now and significantly more than taking the qualifying offer.
The Warriors currently have the highest annual salary offer to Kuminga.
Jonathan Kuminga Prefers External Offers
According to Charania and Slater, Kuminga received offers worth up to $90 million from the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings.
The Suns offered the most guaranteed money in a four-year deal with a player option in the final year. It was $70 million more than the Warriors’ current offer, Charania and Slater noted.
On the other hand, the Kings offered a three-year, $63 million deal with a player option on the final year, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic.
But while Kuminga prefers those external offers, especially the Kings, due to their vision for his role as the starting power forward next to Keegan Murray and [Domantas] Sabonis, per Andscape’s senior NBA writer Marc J. Spears, the Warriors did not receive offers appealing to them.
Until a team offers an unprotected first-round pick, Kuminga will not get the freedom he is seeking from the Warriors.
Will he and the Warriors strike a compromise?