The Golden State Warriors have been stuck in limbo with Jonathan Kuminga.
The team has been toying with the idea of cutting ties with Kuminga for months, but no solid plan has come together.
Kuminga has grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of movement, and NBA insider Anthony Slater spoke about the situation recently.
He said that both sides have been talking, and a path forward might become clear soon.
“Well, there’s been renewed conversations between the two sides,” Slater said on ESPN’s NBA Today. “There’s dialogue, but as you all know, talking doesn’t necessarily equal movement. They’ve shared contract concepts and opinions about the whole thing between each other this last week, dating back to last weekend. Kuminga wants more of a player-friendly deal, more of a signal that he’s a building block, not a trade asset.”
Kuminga wants a deal that will be good for him and his future, and he doesn’t want to be used as a “pawn” in Golden State’s plans.
He knows that if he agrees to a two-year/$45 million offer from the Warriors, he will likely be shipped off to another team by the midseason trade deadline.
He doesn’t want that, and so the chances of him taking the one-year/$7.9 qualifying offer are growing.
That way, he will be able to control his fate more and be on the lookout for another team when the season comes to an end.
It’s not like Kuminga is a bad player, so some Golden State fans wish the team would just be able to figure out how to use him more.
But it feels like Kuminga will never have a stable and large place on this team, and he should be trying to find ways to create the career he wants at a different location.
NEXT: Stephen Curry Reveals Honest Thoughts On Warriors' Offseason Moves