Meeting with reporters on Monday, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said Jonathan Kuminga will be “a main priority” heading into free agency, but he didn’t offer any hints on what the team plans to do, according to Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle.
Kuminga will be a restricted free agent after not reaching an extension prior to the start of the season. The 22-year-old forward has shown flashes of stardom during his four NBA seasons, but he has also been frustrated by inconsistent playing time, which became more pronounced after Golden State traded for Jimmy Butler in February.
Dunleavy told reporters that he would like to “figure something out sooner than later” with Kuminga, whether that turns out to be a new contract or a sign-and-trade. The Bulls and Heat have been mentioned as teams that might be potential trading partners.
Kuminga will be free to negotiate with anybody once free agency begins next Monday, but Brooklyn is currently the only team with enough cap space to make a competitive offer. If Kuminga were to get an offer sheet, the Warriors would have the option to match it, and Dunleavy pointed out that restricted free agency “can drag out a little bit.”
He added that management is comfortable “with who JK is as a player and what he can do for our organization” and said the Warriors will try to give him a more defined role if he remains with the team.
“I think those conversations (about a role) will need to happen — especially the way this season kind of unfolded last year,” Dunleavy added. “There were some moments where he wasn’t playing as much, and then the role is bigger. He’s injured. All this up-and-down. … (His role) will probably be necessary to clarify.”
Dunlevy addressed a few other topics during the press conference:
- The Warriors hold the 41st pick in Wednesday’s draft, and Dunleavy indicated that he’s more likely to trade down than to try to move up into the first round, Gordon adds. Dunleavy will be hoping to repeat his late-draft success after finding Trayce Jackson-Davis with the 57th pick in 2023 and Quinten Post at No. 52 last year. “You’d be lucky to draft a guy in the second round who can make it at all,” Dunleavy said. “I think we have to be realistic about what it is. … We’re going to analyze this (draft), look at it and try to find the best player we can find that’ll contribute to this franchise.”
- Dunleavy plans to be “opportunistic” in the trade market and hopes to improve the depth in the middle of the roster. With Butler, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green combining to make $170.5MM next season, Dunleavy acknowledged that the team can’t add another big contract. “We’ll look at players that we really like. It’s just almost impossible for us to add players in the salary range of guys we were looking at last season since we’ve added Jimmy,” Dunleavy said. “That would be the only limiter. But in terms of finding talent and improving this team, we’re going to look under every rock to try to do that.”
- Dunleavy provided medical updates on Moses Moody (thumb surgery) and Brandin Podziemski (wrist and core muscle surgeries), saying they will “definitely be ready by training camp and even have a good portion of their summer for player development.”
They should try to sign and trade draymond for Myles turner
Start kuminga at the 4
why wopuld the pacers do that? They wouldn’t
Turner is a free agent so it would be better to get something than nothing at all if he wanted to leave.
You understand that Turner probably wants quite a bit more in salary than Draymond makes right? Also cant do a S&T if you resign Kuminga because his new salary will push the team over the apron and they wont be allowed to.
Lopez-Kuminga-Dray-Jimmy-Steph is literally Hamptons Five 2.0
If Kuminga signs now for 30 mill. Can Warriors trade him at Feb TD. For same value salary????
30 mill (3 yrs).
Ok i s listened to the presser. One thing that stood out is MD doesn’t sound like he will trade any draft picks. He talked about draft picks being important to keep a team updated. So stop claiming they will trade 3 future 1st round picks. He also said that its highly unlikely they will be trading for any big contract. So no more Giannis to warriors claims. They will be looking to improve the 6 through 10th rotation spots. So no starters are getting traded. They are happy with end of bench players. it will be mainly finding cheap assets to strengthen the bench.
Giannis isnt available right now. I guarantee that he would make an offer for Giannis or any other top 15 player that comes available. None of those players are currently on the block.
I think they are interested in upgrades that could cost them picks but only for certain players. Like I assume Trey Murphy is one they would throw real value at, but the Pels havent seemed willing to listen. I would guess they sign Loony and Melton to vet min deals if they will take them, and then look for a trade for a bigger shooter. They need someone 6’9″ that can knock down a 3.
warriors do not have teh assets to get Giannis so even if he wwas available they couldn’t get him. My guess is they look to get a 3 point shooter off the bench. Melton I see them going after. Loony will be only if has no other takers. Payton would need to be a minimum contract if he comes back. Trey Murphy makes too much for the warriors to take a stab at him. There are a few tal players out there for the warriors to get but most of them are projects.
I’m not sure how Trade Exceptions fit into the overall salary structure. But, the Warriors have an $8.9 million TE. Landale from Houston is a servicable backup big. He makes $8 million a season. The Rockets need to shed some salary. Bring back Looney on a minimum deal and you a serviceable rotation of bigs.
The package for Giannis is better than you might think. I doubt UTH/BRK are at all appealing to Giannis, and I doubt they would do him dirty and ship him to UTH aka basketball Siberia. SAS/OKC are down to some protected firsts and their own firsts that will be late 20s every time. Almost all the other contenders have used almost all their assets so they are out. And GSW picks after Steph/Dray/Butler retire could be really high so they are on the more valuable side of things.
Like OKCs own picks are probably worth 1/3 of the GSW 29′ pick, since the 29′ pick could be top 5 while the OKC pick will be like 27th or worse. You need a lot of 27th picks to trade for a top 5.
still bucks would be rebuilding so why would they want Butler’s contract? He would need to be part of teh package to get Giannis. I guess you can always dream about ahving Giannis.
You improve your offer by trading Butler to a different contender for assets that get rerouted to MIL.
How would the ‘29 gsw pick be top 5 if they got Giannis? Also, when their trio retires, they will have ample cap space to improve the roster with giannis being the only max deal on the books. The ‘29 pick could be late lottery at best, but not top 10, let alone top 5.
Giannis is aging as well, and you assume if the rest of the core is retired or not very productive that Giannis would probably be worse himself and likely would be on a different team if this one was bad.
Giannis is about to turn 31 and has a very physical demanding game, will that still be holding up at 35 without frequent injury?
Warrior’s co-owner Joe Lacob has stated multiple times he likes JK. Dare to presume they are not going to trade Kuminga anytime soon??
it will be up to what JK wants. He is not going to get that $30 million contract and the warriors only can get back $12 million in value on him so most S/T do not work.
Dunleavy swore in a press conference that he wouldnt trade Poole on his first day and dealt him within 48hrs…
It is hard to see Kuminga getting moved until the trade deadline. They were already prepared to pay him $30/year. Any sign-and-trade means that teams will have to double that, $60/year. Ain’t happening.
Teams don’t really see JK as that big of an offensive threat. Sure, he had some stellar games last year. But, he was inconsistent. Teams didn’t stop doubling Curry. The spacing issue. The Warriors offense was stagnant; they fell to 17th. Teams didn’t stop doubling Curry until Butler arrived; the offense rose to 9th. The went from being a late lottery team to finishing that season with a 23-6 run. Pretty amazing considering Butler didn’t know any of the plays. How was Kerr supposed to fit JK in when the team was playing it’s best ball of the season.
There is a way to play JK and Butler together. Butler thinks it is possible. It worked with Wiggins. But, they need to work on it in training camp. Hopefully, will stop pressing and become more consistent.
I’d hate for the Warriors to lose him because I’m sure they’ll regret it, but it seems pretty clear they can’t or won’t make it work with him, despite Dunleavy’s talk about a more defined role. It’s also hard to say what’s best for JK. The best thing might be (emphasis on might) for him to ride it out one more year and then hit the market as an unrestricted FA.
Replace Steve Kerr with Andre Iguodala and Kuminga makes the 2025-26 all-star game. Why do the Warriors let Kerr lose and underperform 3 years in a row? It’s time for new blood. Kerr’s small ball and love of GP2 cost us the last 3 years when GSW had the pieces to go all the way. Kerr simply refusing to play his 5 most talented players together, and instead use 2way players on a supposed contender is insane and should mean his job.
The problem is that Kerr is independent from Dunleavey/Lacob. Dunleavey can’t offer on Kerr’s behalf.
Dunleavey/Lacob offered Kuminga $150M at the same time Kerr was benching him at beginning of last season.
Dunleavy gave Kyle Anderson a long-term deal, but Kerr didn’t want to play him.
Sign Lopez
Sign Melton
Extend and keep Kuminga
Title-level team with these minimal moves
Lopez-Kuminga-Dray-Jimmy-Steph is what wins in 2026.
If Jimmy says he’s past first and wants to get everyone involved, then Brook Lopez or a high scoring center should be the #1 priority, as Dray and Jimmy are both past first guys. They need a big who can also score. That’s Brook.
If I’m Kuminga the Warriors “defining his role better” if he stays would not be something I’d trust. They have had years to do that.
Kuminga would rather get 20 shots per night than be on a contender.
He already has a ring and at his age is more important for him to become a star in a team than a role player in an old team that has not gotten enough talent to compete!
Kuminga’s role in GSW must be clarified… either he is the #1 option or he goes to another team, as simple as!