The Kings are “very engaged” on Warriors restricted free agent forward Jonathan Kuminga, according to Matt George of ABC 10 in Sacramento (Twitter links).
While the Kings have seemingly been extremely willing to discuss Malik Monk in trade scenarios, Monk likely wouldn’t be involved in any deal for Kuminga, says George, noting that Golden State doesn’t appear to have much interest in the veteran guard.
George has heard that the Kings have explored sending out guard Devin Carter, forward Dario Saric, and draft compensation as part of a deal to acquire Kuminga via sign-and-trade (Twitter link). If a deal along those lines came to fruition, it would likely be combined with Sacramento’s Saric/Jonas Valanciunas swap with Denver in order to maximize the Kings’ outgoing salary, which would allow them to give Kuminga a more lucrative deal.
However, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link), there’s no agreement imminent at this point. Conversations on the Kuminga front with the Warriors and “several” teams are ongoing, Slater adds.
Here are a few more items of interest on some of the top free agents still on the board:
- After starting all 82 games for San Antonio this past season, veteran point guard Chris Paul is hoping to be a starter again in 2025/26, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link), which is one reason why he’s still weighing his options in free agency. Reynolds says the Clippers are hoping Paul will join them, while Ramona Shelburne of ESPN (Twitter video link) views the Suns as his most likely landing spot. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) believes Paul would like to return to Phoenix, but thinks there would be a very limited role for him with the Suns, so he considered a reunion unlikely.
- The Warriors have been “very aggressive” in trying to recruit Al Horford to Golden State, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (Twitter video link). Windhorst believes Horford could end up in the West Coast if he continues his career, noting that the Lakers are among the other teams pursuing him. Windhorst’s report came before the Lakers reached an agreement with Deandre Ayton, but Los Angeles could still use frontcourt depth and still has its $5.1MM bi-annual exception available.
- Russell Westbrook, an L.A. native, would like to “be closer to home,” according to Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter video link). Multiple reports this week have linked Westbrook to the Kings, but it sounds like that would only become a viable option if Sacramento ends up trading Monk.
- In ranking what he believes are the top five best landing spots for Damian Lillard once he becomes a free agent, Spears places the Timberwolves atop his list (Twitter video link). Mike Conley is still penciled in as Minnesota’s starting point guard, but he’ll be 38 in October and struggled in the postseason, and the Wolves don’t have much reliable depth at the position behind him. Lillard could be a perfect fit, though he’ll miss most or all of the 2025/26 season while recovering from his Achilles tear.
- In addition to previously reported suitors like Milwaukee and Indiana, the Knicks, Clippers, Cavaliers, and Nuggets also expressed some level of interest in Ayton before he agreed to join the Lakers, Shams Charania of ESPN said on SportsCenter (Twitter video link). Charania added that several suitors reached out to Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin to ask about Ayton and got “rave reviews of him as a teammate.”
Kings are so bad at this. Delusional asks, GSW should just keep Kuminga and trade him in Feb.
If you sign him and hold him to February, I think that could create a disruptive locker room.
Yes you’ll get more $ in return because the salary camp rules, but holding onto a malcontent for six months could be a difficult situation for a team that wants to make another run at it.
True, but there’s no chance that (proven to be unplayable) Saric and 6’2″ Carter (who can’t shoot) would be players GSW would want.
It’s shaping up to be a tough offseason, and while Horford will still be productive if they sign him, his decline was obvious last season.
I don’t think Jonathan Kuminga turns into those two guys. That would be a massive downgrade.
I’d rather keep him, play him, and go from there.
Not even sure why those two names are attached? Whoever started it could’ve figured those were two guys Sacramento wants to get rid of in a big way. Not happening for Jonathan Kuminga. More likely they wind up on the waiver wire lol
KnickAl posted the link to the story – which barely mentions a benefit to the warriors other than in this sentence:
“General manager Mike Dunleavy had hoped to acquire players in a potential sign-and-trade for Kuminga, but in this scenario, the Warriors would add a future asset while clearing salary cap space.”
The future asset mentioned is two 2nd rd picks. I can’t believe Dunleavy would do this, but I’ve been wrong before!
@Gary malcontent? since when? Kuminga has no attitude problem, he is just one of like 95% of the league who thinks Kerr stinks (because Kerr stinks). Nothing wrong with anything JK has done to make you think he would disrupt the locker room.
This locker room contains a guy who punched his teammate in the face. What in the delusional take is this?
Stop replying to me, you are so clueless.
I think he is perfectly aware that the Warriors want to get rid of him.
If they keep him till February, it’s going to be a bad locker room.
@Gary
Again, why do you assume he’ll be disruptive? If knows he’ll be traded then maybe he’ll be Osprey especially if he has his money.
@Gary
Again, why do you assume he’ll be disruptive? If knows he’ll be traded then maybe he’ll be disruptive especially if he has his money.
My comments are perfect compared to yours.
The only way you can control my replies to your comments is to mute me.
You don’t want to do that because even though you insult me, I’m still polite with you.
Dame to Minnesota makes a lot of sense, with ANT, and their D, Minnesota would be a tough out in the playoffs… Ant wouldn’t be doubled teamed so much…. They need a starter to replace Conley, basically next year, 2026, coming off injury makes sense to go to training camp…if he would be ready by training camp, playing sometime in 2026….
He got divorced last year and his ex wife and kids still live in POR. Thats why he is rehabbing in POR currently because his families there. Not sure if he really wants to sign up for playing for POR, but I think somewhere close is probably his list. I would expect UTH or the CA teams geographically.
Uth, no
Im just saying some places are under 2 hrs flying with direct connection
When you have access to a pj, Minnesota isn’t that far. Realistically, he isn’t going to be able to leave the team to visit them during the season unless he’s literally playing in POR.
Draymond still lives in LA primarily during the season. The flight is barely longer to POR. I flew OAK to POR as a kid to visit my grandma. Its a little over an hr to POR, and a little under to LA.
I have no idea why these people started saying Dame would be ready by next June. Even if he does come back, his whole game is based on his speed and he will need at least 1-2 years to build back the tendon strength, so he will be totally useless in the NBA.
Klay and KD’s games were never predicated on their speed, their recoveries from Achilles injuries are literally the best case scenario.
Dame is a totally different type of player, speed is too important to his game, and he will be losing a great deal of it in years 1-3 of recovery.
Speed was never a major part of his game, or at least not the same way it is for Curry, Morant and Kyrie. He’s highly functional in a half- court setting and coil be a good catch and shoot guy.
^ tell me you have never watched Dame play and are just trolling my posts without telling me you have never watched Dame play and are just trolling my posts SMH
You’re just lying here, you know that right? We all can see it.
This sounds really stupid but what if the warriors signed Westbrook, he would be a horrible fit in that system but their GM is no bob myers and might not care
If Kerr doesn’t play Kuminga, cause he doesn’t fit into their system, could you imagine Westbrook. Certain games Kerr would be pulling his hair out with Westbrook late game crazy shots and turnovers…
Why do people keep saying that Kerr didn’t play Kuminga? He averaged 24mpg over 47 games. He missed 33 due to an ankle injury. Kuminga’s shooting numbers were down from the previous year.
link to nbcsportsbayarea.com
Maybe because he played 21 MPG after the ASB and was a DNP-CD in two playoff games.
Conversely, Kerr played Dennis Schroder out of position to the tune of 26 MPG (24 games, 18 starts) and he was absolute dog ****.
Umm…I guess you don’t watch many Warriors games.
Prior to the All-Star game, the Warriors were a lottery team. After the All-Star game, with the addition of Butler, the Warriors had one of the best records in the league. Butler and Kuminga play the same position. Who would you play? Still…21mpg is not like he was glued to the bench.
They traded for Schroder to halt the bleeding. Curry was constantly double teamed. Melton was out for the season. They had to do something. It didn’t work out.
It’s hard to believe you’re serious. It’s because Kerr said he’d start him and then put him back on the bench after 3 games.
Then Kerr benched him in 4 playoff games and didn’t give him any time until Curry’s injury.
Kerr benched Podz also because he was struggling at the beginning of the season. The offense definitely did struggle until Butler arrived.
He makes no sense on the Warriors at all, they already have Brandin Podziemski who does all that Russ-type stuff.
The Warriors just need to sign Al Horford and Herb Jones to replace Looney and GP2. They can sign Kuminga and keep him til Feb deadline and see who’s around then if he still isn’t fitting with this roster. I think he will, he was injured last year and it effected his performance. He is still super young and has generally gotten better each year. He isn’t bad but he isn’t an all-star, yet. Therein lies the problem of extending him. I say take the risk. The upside is still there. His quick first step is elite, he played really good defense 2 years ago (but not last year). There’s enough there to where he can be a really useful rotation piece right now, but also has an all-star ceiling, so yeah you roll the dice there.
Has everyone here but me given up on or completely disregarded Giannis-to-Dubs? Ok I get it. No one’s dreaming big anymore.
I don’t see a path in this offseason, I can see it happening in Feb.
I’ll bite on the conspiracy theory.
Why haven’t the Warriors signed a single guy?
They’re working on something huge and getting Giannis would be huge.
Perhaps it’s another guy, who knows who, but something huge is gonna happen.
Saving the best for last. Good stuff, GaryRedSoxxWarriors.
What would exactly be GS Benefit in trading KummInga for nothing – which Carter and Saric basicslly are?
GS needs an Center and athleticism
Especially when there’s the option of signing him and keeping him and then trading him in Feb at the deadline, when a whole bunch of team’s fortunes will ultimately change.
Yes, Carter is nothing. No team needs him
You trade Kuminga for Saric
Keegan Murray and filler go to third team, third team send a player to Warriors
Murray is 2 years older than Kuminga
The big big difference is Murray can shoot the 3. Kings need Murray’s shooting. Kuminga to the kings means Kuminga is a 6th man if no additional trade, which is Ok to transition to a new team. Kerr reduced him to sporadic minutes without a defined role. Kuminga could easily start once he has his confidence back, his game in sync with Kings offense. MORE importantly a coach who believes in him. Kuminga is a talent that needs to be developed. …,But Murray is a fan favorite there …. Especially shooting the 3 ball, purple beam of lite thing they have going when Murray shoots makes a 3…ALSO, I still can’t believe Kings fired their coach early last year, now hired by Knicks.
Carter is literally athleticism. He’s GP2 on a rookie deal + can actually play PG
This would be one of the worst trades in league history. There has to be a better deal out there somewhere.
Is it worse than Kuminga taking the QO, getting a defacto No Trade Clause, and leaving as a UFA?
Getting a player on a rookie deal is on the high end of RFA S&T possibilities.
If he takes the QO his salary is really low compared to his value. It also eliminates the BYC so you can match 1 for 1 and the outgoing is only 8M so its super easy for other teams to match. If your sending him to a team he wants to go to it becomes far easier.
Regretting that Devin Carter pick already? Ware was on the board, just saying.
Carter was picked by a different front office. Perry has no attachment to the player.
Mike Conley isn’t even a starting level point guard currently let alone having anyone behind him.
Al come to NYC ……. the Community is waiting for you Dominicano.
I’d love big owl @ MSG.
Whatever honeymoon phase there was for Perry will quickly be over if they sign Kuminga. After years of failing to surround Sabonis with enough spacing, you decide to double down on that with Kuminga? Not to mention he is not yet a positive defender out there, which was the other big issue for the team. Yes, DeMar will likely be traded, etc, but I just don’t see how this is a good fit unless Perry has a bunch of followup moves in his back pocket. Guess we’ll see.
Kuminga at best is a slasher and a beast on the break. Sabonis high usage, fantastic passer, high I Q. I’d love Sabonis in Boston. Seems like a good fit to me.
Dame playing in the Bay Area would be amazing for him. Can you imagine Steph and Dame on the same team? Looks redundant with Jimmy on the books but i could see that being a crazy back court.
Damian Lillard still has a jumpshot. Adding a shooter at a minimum would be fantastic.
Wishing beloved Al Horford the best if he leaves the Celtics for the Warriors. I see Dame and CP3 want to stay near home so maybe that’s factoring in “Playoff Al’s” decision. Stay with the Celtics for much less money OR go cross country for a year or two and bank a few more million. Of course, with the Warriors Al would have to play with Green, who seems from watching him, is totally the opposite to Al’s personality. Good luck Al!
Do they even have enough cap space to do this? If not, they have to get a 3rd of 4th team involved to take salary.
Shams really doesn’t have much credibility anymore – honestly, he’s trying to sell us the “Ayton was a great teammate” BS? Shams needs to be a better filter…or all he is is someone who publishes whatever the people who have his cell number want him to sell us. I get the sense that he values his access more than his reputation.
Woj did this for years. Its nothing new. All newsbreakers (regardless of scale) carry water for teams and agents.
The same is true in regular reporting as well. Reporting isn’t about fact finding and hasn’t been for a long time.
would love to see C Paul go to Denver
He wants to be a starting PG. You are saying trade Murray.
GSW has let the Kuminga situation become more than it ever needed to be. He’s just another very high pick who hasn’t played to his draft status, but wants to be paid as though he had, and his team isn’t willing to do it. Instead of doing the typical thing in that situation, and dealing him as a low priced guy on a RSC, they’ve let the situation fester. It’s now likely compromised their off season. I don’t know what’s left out there for them, but Horford is likely either waiting on GSW or unsure if he wants to play next season. Anyway, he’s not going to wait forever.
Also, it’s clear that many here know very little about Devin Carter. But, that’s to be expected, its not a site full of college basketball fans.
One thing I know about Devin Carter is that he’s older than Kuminga, despite being a rookie. And he has shown a lot less in the league than Kuminga.
He’s also 4 years away from being paid, which kinda matters in this NBA.
Well, he only played a handful of games after missing most of the season due to a season ending injury he had in his last college season. Because of his injury, I thought he might have been a little overdrafted, but not by that much. If he’s healthy now, he’s worth more than a lottery protected FRP. I care little about the 1 year difference in chronological age, and would focus on his contractural age.
Right now, I consider Carter a better asset on his current deal (peanuts for 3 years) than Kuminga would be on a deal paying him over 30 mm a year for more than 2 years guaranteed. Now if Kuminga could be had for less than that, that might be different. Question is IF he could be, why hasn’t he been.
Dude he was the second to last pick in the lottery in the worst draft in decades. He then disappointed. Where is the value?
You might have to pay to get off his second year money right now.
He could improve, but he hasnt shown he can be a NBA rotation player yet. Im not valuing your 13th man like some star, and your smoked if you think he is worth an lightly protected 1st.
I won’t have to do anything. Dude. LOL. I have no interest in SAC, nor do I care whether they’re disappointed in their draft pick, or where he fits in their pecking order. It is mindless though to draft a guy who is likely to sit out a year, and then be disappointed based on games he didn’t even figure to play at all. But the SAC FO has the right to be mindless, as do you.
I said lottery protected FRP, which you then equated with “lightly protected” which generally means top 4 protected and burning off after a few years.
Anyway, FYI, if you care to have any. Carter is NOT a PG (yes, regardless of the draft designation as such). He can facilitate, and can be considered a combo. The one thing you said that is accurate is he is unproven as an NBA rotation player. He may end up being a bust. A 5 mm bust is much better than the downside of signing Kuminga to a 100 mm plus contract.
You asserted his value. Also he was hurt after the draft not before. His workouts for teams were why he was a riser. I didnt say you have to do anything. I just asked where is his value?
You said he was worth “more” than a lottery protected 1st if healthy, so thats a lightly protected 1st.
He is 6’2″ being generous. Thats pretty small for a combo guard. He hasnt shown he wont be starring in EU before his rookie deal runs out, yet.
Kuminga just scored 25PPG with nothing around him in the playoffs. Moody had a hurt shooting wrist, Podz had a hurt shooting wrist, Curry hurt hammy, and Jimmy hurt @ss. If Kuminga could become a consistent upper 30s 3Pt% shooter he is a top 3 player on a title team. He has parts of the game he needs to fix, and is just young and dumb and trying to force himself into a role he isnt ready for yet, but he can improve the areas he is deficient. His handles been improving, players defense improves with experience, and outside shooting can come later for a player like him that was a older age when they started. He is being chased by a ton of teams because he is 22 with amazing measurements, and hes already shown a bunch. He just may not fit the timeline or role of a 37 year old Steph Curry.
Steph brought this team 4 titles and counting. The team they bought for 450M in his sophomore season would never be worth the most of all teams in American sports if not for Steph. That means it makes sense to sacrifice an uncut gem like Kuminga in order to give him a real chance at getting to 5.
Oh and if you keep Carter through his rookie deal trying to get something out of him it will cost you 16.5M not 5M…
Carter’s height might be an issue, it might not be. I don’t know his actual height/length (its only the latter that counts), but I’ve seen him play and you (obviously) haven’t. He certainly plays much bigger than 6’2″. He controlled college games with his athleticism, toughness and BB IQ. Covered the best non-C scorer on the other team as a rule. He was POY, and both the leading scorer and the 3rd leading rebounder, in the Big East (more boards than either Clingan or Kaulkbrenner).
I’ll take your word for it on Kuminga’s upside, but it appears GSW FO won’t. If GSW felt the same way, they would have already given him that 35 mm a year deal, maybe for fewer years, and be done with it. One overpaid guy isn’t going to disrupt much for Curry’s last years, unless its extreme.
Other than the contract they offered Horford, which it sounds like either GS or retirement, they have nothing but min deals. Sure they could have rushed to sign a Eubanks type, but why? I assume they are waiting for most teams MLE to run out so the guys left on the market know theyre only getting a min. Like who can fall through the cracks as a useful bench vet Brogdon? When most of your shopping is min contracts it pays to wait and get guys like Tyus/Trent that get left in the FA cold.
I would argue its better to take your time with Kuminga and get it right rather than rushing through the first good offer just to have it done. Also with BYC its super duper tricky to make any deal work.
Carter is a draft bust until he does better. He was just as bad offensively as advertised, and much worse as an on ball defender than was expected. He can develop, but you wouldnt get a protected first back for him in a 1 for 1 right now.
That’s my point, you have to get Kuminga done first, so its smart to get it done quick – just as important as getting it done well. Because the other FA possibilities are different depening on how it gets done. You’re assuming the rest of their FA period would be exactly the same as it’s been even if a Kuminga settlement had left them with an extra 30 mm in apron space. I don’t think so. But now it pretty much will be since there are fewer things around.
They missed out on Yabusele on the contract thats on offer for Horford. Other than that what did you want Plumlee on the min? Like Bruce Brown was going to DEN either way. Other guys that were good deals may have had offers from GSW that would have been announced if they said yes. People think that just cause one team got a good player on a good deal that it was there waiting for any team.
Base Year Compensation means you only get 1/2 the money back in matching. It makes trading him super complicated both in getting a good player back when your only getting 12M or something in matching, and in having a legal trade without players being rerouted to a 3rd team with space. The most likely thing is that they sign him to a deal which he will become trade eligible from on Dec 15. At that point they get 25M in matching off a 25M deal. The team can also boost his value featuring him the first 2 months of the season.
The only difference the Kuminga money makes is the MLE or TPMLE. otherwise its entirely the same. He wont make enough to push them to the 2nd apron. After the one MLE its min deals either way, which they can sign at any time. It also would benefit them since its a trade exception in season to still have part of MLE left for in season deals since you dont need to match then.
Big difference these days between the MLE vs the Txp-MLE, and there is also the BAE which is more than the Txp-MLE. With the regular MLE, how about Lopez at 8.5 mm and Ty Jones at 7 mm. BAE gets you Capella too. IDK of course, but don’t assume there aren’t possibilities. GSW is a desirable destination for vets right now.
Plus, the numbers don’t support your conclusion that they’d still have the Txp-MLE in all events. GSW has 164 mm invested in 6 guys. If they give out the TxMLE of 5.7, they go to about 170 mm (7 guys), and put in a hard cap at the second apron (208 mm). Even if they got rid of half of the rest and replaced them with rookies, they couldn’t match a 30 mm offer sheet for Kuminga. Maybe 25 mm. Problem is once you can’t match a certain offer, you’re inviting it.