Jonathan Kuminga‘s restricted free agent negotiations with the Warriors continue to be one of the top lingering storylines of the NBA offseason. Following up on recent reports indicating that Kuminga has turned a two-year, $45MM offer with a team option on the second year, Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) notes that the team’s request for the forward to waive his implicit no-trade clause is part of the holdup.
A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract or a two-year deal with a second-year option gets the right to veto trades for the rest of the season, but that right can be waived as part of the contract agreement. Jaxson Hayes, Taurean Prince, and Jeff Green are among several players who have waived their veto rights when re-signing with their respective teams this summer.
A player in that position who consents to a trade – either by waiving his veto rights when he signs or by eventually approving an in-season trade – would lose any form of Bird rights as part of the deal and would have Non-Bird rights at the end of the season.
Aside from the contract negotiations, Stein writes that while Kuminga has returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he is still not expected to play in FIBA’s AfroBasket tournament this summer. No official decision has been announced yet, but it’s unlikely that Kuminga would suit up for the Congolese team if his contract situation remains unresolved.
Here’s more from Stein:
- Much has been made about Luka Doncic‘s three-year max extension with the Lakers and what it means for him and the team’s future, but Stein points out an important detail regarding the timeline of the deal. The contract would allow Doncic to become an unrestricted free agent in 2028 when he has more than eight years of NBA service and four seasons with his current team, which means he would be eligible for a no-trade clause if he were to wait until ’28 free agency to sign a new contract with the Lakers. Stein writes that while Doncic will have technically played three-and-a-half years with the Lakers, he’d still meet the no-trade criteria because he would have finished four seasons with the Lakers, even if he started the first one in Dallas.
- While the offseason buyout market has been particularly active this offseason, Stein cautions fans not to expect Bulls center Nikola Vucevic to join the likes of Bradley Beal and Damian Lillard this summer. He writes that unless a trade materializes in the next couple of months, Vucevic will very likely begin next season in Chicago. There has been speculation that the veteran big man could be a prime mid-season buyout candidate if no deal occurs by February’s trade deadline.
- Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox became eligible on Sunday for a three- or four-year extension that would look like the one Doncic signed in L.A. However, Stein notes that with the rise of reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and the addition of Dylan Harper with the No. 2 overall pick, there are questions league-wide about whether such a max deal is an automatic decision for San Antonio.
- Kevin Love is actively exploring landing spots in the case of a potential buyout from the Jazz after landing in Utah as a part of the Heat’s trade for Norman Powell, though Stein doesn’t name any possible suitors.
If the Warriors want to be good faith in negotiations they need to understand that asking him to give up his Bird rights is too much with everything else he’s already going to be risking and sacrificing. Negotiations are not about getting 100% of what you want and giving 0% of what the other side wants.
they both should meet half way. warriors just don’t want to have a trade and then Kuminga agent wants a raise and years added to OK the trade. Should just allow him to add 5 teams he will not be traded too while making his 2nd optional year a non-guarnantee where he gets a little amount if they don’t take the option year.
None of that’s gonna happen, arc89. To sign with the Warriors, he’d already me making the compromise of lowering his market value under Kerr. (Kerr has already said that JK he signs with the Warriors, he can’t be a starter or key contributor.)
He’s only going to sign with the Warriors if he can control where he goes after.
the next season for a coach that will lower his market value.
JK .wants to control where he plays next. If he does another year with Kerr,
Way his agent is Kuminga would ask for a new extension for more money if he waived his no trade clause. No team is going to trade for him unless they feel he can be a starter.
The one thing the warriors could do is make the 2nd year a non-guarantee year where only partial is solid money and the rest comes official on July1st.
> No team is going to trade for him unless they feel
> he can be a starter.
Nobody can know that in advance. IMO, most likely trade is driven by GSW, not another team, using Kuminga’s ~$25M for salary matching. They could trade him anywhere without a no-trade clause including a very good team that wants to use him as a 6th man.
The time for negotiations is long gone. Why do all of you still thing they are bargaining. Kuminga wants out. It’s over ……. He isn’t giving anything cause he is thru negotiating. Only the Warriors have to agree to the package that comes back. Kuminga wants to get paid. For the money he wants. It means he will start or he will be groomed to start. The only drama now is by Warriors.
Negotiating was for last year. You still haven’t grasped where Warriors are with a QO. They don’t care about the Warriors. Just like the Warriors haven’t cared about him for the last two yrs. Its all about the small print now.
He can’t give up his Bird rights. Cause that will affect his next contract. So it’s beyond ridiculous they would ask for that. What Warriors want is control of trade. They will just have to live with him agreeing to team traded to. Not really a big deal imo.
Spurs shouldn’t be in a rush just yet to trade Fox. Need vets and he can play for real. Keep developing these young guys, stay patient. See what you’ve got, what you like and what weaknesses to fix in a few seasons time. Spurs are trending upwards regardless. Low key great pick ups in Luke and Kelly for overall team chemistry and depth. When the time is right Vessell and Barnes would be moved or off the books. Keep Fox, we aren’t sure Castle and Harper jr a gun point guards at this point. Castle seems a 2 who can be entrusted for ball handling duties part time. Fox pic game with Wemby, Kornet and Kelly popping for three’s will be quite formidable.
Castle doesn’t really project as a point guard. He looks more like a young Jordan Clarkson with defensive upside. I’m confident Harper can handle point guard duties, and if that’s the case, Fox would fit well as a shooting guard, especially since we know Harper can defend.
Alternatively, they could roll with Fox at point guard, Vassell at shooting guard, and Harper at small forward, with Castle coming off the bench as the sixth man. Harper has the size to play the three, can act as a secondary creator alongside Fox, and fill in at point guard when Fox rests.
Fox under his agent Paul pushed for a trade, which allowed SA to get him rather cheap. He did it assuming that he gets his max extension. And also wanting to jump onto the Wemby train early, ofc. But the max extension was a big part of it. And taking discounts wasn’t in the plans, clearly.
It will be interesting how SA handle it.
Going into the summer, I was mostly curious about 3 things:
1) How will SA handle Fox’s extension given their lottery luck.
2) How much will Mathurin sign for. Or maybe he will even go into his 4th year without a contract. Similarities with Kuminga are striking: a high lottery pick, was not established as a starter, does not really fit Indiana’s very distinct style and slows them down, had a very marginal role in many playoff games. But has also shown a lot of upside, had big stretches and big playoff performances. Both teams they are with are looking for bargain contracts and are not ready to splash on high upside they don’t know what to do with. GS because Curry is making almost 40% of the cap, Indiana because they’re cheap.
3) RFAs, of course. We had 10 this summer, by far the biggest and most talented group ever from that super strong 2021 class. 6 have signed already, 4 remain and have been the single biggest factor driving engagement on this website during the off-season, lol.
Second sentence should read, “turned down,” not, “turned.”