The rift between Jonathan Kuminga and the Golden State Warriors seems to be holding up the entire NBA offseason at this point, with a new wrinkle from the Warriors’ ownership now making waves.
Kuminga is currently a restricted free agent, and according to [ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne](https://youtu.be/C_MpTllY6Hs?si=y2zkD7TsNwojKYQ0), Warriors owner Joe Lacob has been skeptical about including Kuminga in any trade packages, citing the potential he has as a future All-Star caliber talent. For this reason, Shelburne believes Kuminga remains in Golden State this offseason.
“I think he’s going to be on the Warriors,” [Shelburne said on NBA Today](https://youtu.be/C_MpTllY6Hs?si=y2zkD7TsNwojKYQ0). “I think there’s an easy solution here, which is that the Warriors give him an extra year. It’ll be like a two-plus-one, where he has a little more control, a little more guaranteed money...And I do think the Warriors see him as somebody who’s, if he wants to call it, a building block, I don’t know if I would call it that, but somebody they want around for a long time, because they have 35-year-olds on their team. I know the owner, Joe Lacob has told him this. He loves Jonathan Kuminga. He is the reason that they’ve never included him in trades, because they see the potential in him.”
Kuminga has yet to receive that same level of trust from the Warriors’ coaching staff
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While he may have the trust of the team’s ownership, Kuminga has struggled to gain that same level of trust with the coaching staff. Last season, Kuminga averaged 15.3 points per game in 47 appearances (10 starts). However, his playing time, and role in the rotation was inconsistent throughout the season, as head coach Steve Kerr would have him in and out of the rotation frequently.
The Warriors are hopeful they can come to a resolution soon. On one hand, they can’t afford to lose Kuminga for essentially nothing if he were to walk. On the other, they can’t allow this to go on for much longer, as they still have yet to make a single transaction all offseason.