Jonathan Kuminga won’t join the Warriors for media day as his contract standoff with the team drags on, sources tell Anthony Slater and Shams Charania of ESPN. Kuminga didn’t make the trip to San Francisco for today’s event, and it doesn’t appear he’ll be with the team when practice begins on Tuesday.
Slater and Charania report that Golden State general manager Mike Dunlevy Jr. reached out to Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner, on Sunday, but it doesn’t seem that a deal is any closer to being finalized.
The three contract offers the Warriors made this summer all remain on the table, but Kuminga hasn’t shown an inclination to accept any of them. They are two years at $45MM and three years at $75.2MM, which both contain team options on the final season, or three years with no team option at the reduced rate of $54MM over three years.
Kuminga is hoping for a player option, and sources tell the authors that he sent a message to the team saying he would consider that a sign of goodwill after “years of confusion” about his role. He also cited an expectation that he will continue to have uneven playing time and will likely be put on the trade market if he re-signs with Golden State.
Kuminga’s main leverage throughout negotiations has been the threat that he will accept the team’s one-year, $8MM qualifying offer, which would make him an urestricted free agent next summer. That option is set to expire after Wednesday, and there reportedly haven’t been any discussions about moving the deadline.
The Warriors have kept numerous roster moves on hold throughout the offseason while trying to reach a new deal with Kuminga, but several upcoming signings were reported on Sunday.
There’s more on the Warriors:
- The addition of Al Horford in free agency gives Golden State a starting center who’s a consistent three-point threat for the first time in recent memory, writes Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. Horford shot 36.3% from beyond the arc last season and made 114 three-pointers, the second-highest total of his career, even though he only played 60 games. Johnson sees Horford as a positive influence on Quinten Post, who displayed a reliable three-point shooting stroke once he began getting consistent playing time in January.
- The Warriors will save some money by signing 2025 second-round pick Will Richard to a standard deal, notes Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Richard’s new four-year contract will only count $1.3MM toward the salary cap, while an undrafted rookie or a free agent with a year of service would have been $2.3MM.
- ESPN’s Bobby Marks offers a detailed look at Golden State’s finances, noting that the team can only offer Kuminga $23MM this season if it plans to carry 15 standard contracts (Twitter link).
- The Warriors announced several promotions and additions in their basketball operations department, including making Nicholas Kerr an assistant coach after he spent the past two seasons as head coach of the team’s G League affiliate in Santa Cruz.
Everyone wonders why they announced all these signings before the players actually signed? Here’s your answer. Media day, photo opportunities, etc. Can’t have a team photo with seven guys lol
Might have to do what they are talking about with Grimes – waive no trade take a higher 1 year salary and lose bird rights
Also extremely obvious is Everyone who said he’s taking the QO is wrong. If that was the plan, he’d be on the team for the season and he would be here for picture day.
But it’s not the plan it’s the bluff. The plan is take the money and get traded.
Nobody passes up $30 million based on principal, no matter what the guys on the radio say.
He’ll be traded in the next 48 hours to the Sacramento Kings for DeMar DeRozan and a second round pick. Throw in Moses moody and not Buddy Hield for salary matching and away we go.
He will take the QO because he knows the W’s intend to salary dump him to a bad team next off-season so they can chase Giannis and others, and the team option makes him more tradeable. With a team option that’s two full seasons in Charlotte or DC or a Giannis-less Bucks. He wants to avoid that, so he’ll give up a few million this season in exchange for no-trade power and unrestricted free agency next June. He’ll make most of that money back. He’s giving the W’s to the last minute to change their minds. He holds all the cards.
That’s the more popular opinion Seamaholic. Definitely.
You might be right, but I just cannot see anyone giving up $30 million and on top of that his agent either agreeing with him or spawning the idea originally. I just can’t see it.
We’ll see how it goes. Go Warriors !! I’m pretty excited to see how this blends together. Not much of a roster, but fingers crossed for a good result.
Honestly he’s going to a bad team regardless. Most teams don’t have cap room and the ones that do are tanking or are clearing the decks.
Any decent team won’t sign him to a big contract because frankly, he’s currently a bench player.
I really see him as a mid-level signing next year id he accepts the QO. Which front office is willing to make that gamble? Especially since you haven’t really seen much and this entire thing with his agent would make one leery.
If he takes the QO he cant be traded this year without losing his bird and a ton of money on top of what he gives up this season taking the QO.
Why wouldnt he want to go to a bad team? If he goes to a good team he will be in the same boat. He wont be starting for sure, and will get benched if he plays bad. He wants a situation where winning doesnt matter, he gets to be the star, and he gets to put up counting stats, even if they are super inefficient. Mostly he wants to get out of crashing the boards by being “the guy” on a bad team.
Oh waaaaaahhhh I had my playing time fluctuate as an inefficient 20 year old on a team contending. Also refused to do what the coaches told me too in order to earn more. Pay your f***ing dues kid. Nobodys given s*** for free in this league, you gotta take playing time with your play.
I don’t see him taking a 3/54 with out a team option, no mention of a player option, over a 3/75 team option. Whoever trades for him is going to give him opportunity to live up to that contract. And worst case it’s a 2/50M and he is a FA and probably can get more than 4M from someone.
@GaryRSW
Personally, I’ll be shocked if there’s a last minute S&T, no matter what players might be involved.
By all reports Horford is taking more than midlevel. Considering they are saying he will start. The midlevel is 5.7 mill. So there is no way they can pay Kuminga more than 20 mill. Sign the other FAs. Which they are committed to now. And stay under the second apron. Seems obvious he will sign the QO. It’s the only offer out there. And only way they stay under the apron.
Any trade involving Kuminga is at 50% value of money. Keep dreaming though. You do have 48 hrs …..
link to youtu.be
Can’t give Horford more than MLE. And if they give more than the taxpayer limit of the MLE (5.7M), they will be hard capped at the first apron.
That requires MM or BH to go to a third team that can take them without sending back any salary. Which team is that going to be?
Report says Dunleavey reached out, but no movement.
Odds of signing QO up, odds of signing extension down.
Ridiculous.
He’ll be in LA by XMas. Hello Dalton Knecht.
Dalton Knecht and ..?
Has to be a three-way with either Phoenix and or Sacramento. Those are the two teams for willing to take this kid on and invest time into developing him, or they see something he can provide today that’s worth $21 million.
Not 3 teams. Watch the Lakers. It’s been reported since early July, and LA media has been all over it lately.
As soon as the QO is signed, you only need $8M of matching salary to trade for him. The Warriors will want to trade him ASAP. Bad vibes. He has veto rights, so he can choose the other team(s). It’ll feel like robbery, but that’s where we are.
Kecht can’t play defense but we will take Vanderbilt instead.
Kuminga is showing the rest of the NBA he is not a team player. He only cares about the money and his excuse of having a player option shows its about the money. The player option is a insurance policy for him in case he fails to draw other teams. There got to be one team out there willing to trade the warriors something of value for him.
Being about the money is fine with me. We’re all about the money. Going for the money is not a bad thing in my mind.
In the working world we are all free agents. I’ll go work for the guy across the street if he’ll give me more money. Especially when I’m young. Satisfaction at work comes later And the salary doesn’t matter as much. But we are all about the money.
The scary thing here and the HUGE red flag is that JK wants to go to “his” situation. He has a list of requirements for the team who signs him to this big money.
You figure if you give a guy big money that you would then be able to determine the role necessary for the team.
But JK and his agent want to dictate his role too?
And we wonder why we’re in this conundrum at the end of September with camps opening tomorrow.
Kuminga camp wants to force the warriors to trade him is my feelings. Its also not coming from Kuminga because he is only 22 and would love to be around his teamamtes. This is his agent using Kuminga to make statement. Kuminga is the only player the agent represents. So if he gets the warriors to fold he can say to other palyers look what I got for my guy. So far he has failed so he is using Kuminga to save face. Its a shame that Kuinga is letting him be used by the agent.
It’s always about the blame game with Warriors fans. Even down to the last days you can’t help yourselves. You have called him every name in the book. For the past two yrs. And put all the blame on him. Like true fans.
DaveyJ got more sense than the wagoneers ….
Am i blaming Kuminga? NO I am blaming his agent. Come on Al even you know his agent has not been rational and it hurts Kuminga reputation not even showing up for media day. If he was a Knick and refusing to show up you would not be praising Kuminga.
Being a fan of the team does not obligate someone to be a fan of every player on the roster (and their agent). And BTW, Kuminga is NOT on the roster right now. He stopped being a Warrior when the season ended.
Gary, I strongky disagree with you on that one.
It’s absolutely the right thing to have honest discussions with every prospective team about your role. That’s planning for success. The goal is not merely to get the biggest contract, but also to increase your value for the next ones.
Mark Spears reports that both the Kings’ president and head coach told Kuminga in person that he would be their starting PF. Kuminga didn’t ask for that, but that would rightly increase the true value of signing with the Kings.
If the Kings like him so much why are they not offering anything of value for him? Come on now even saying Ellis is not tradeable. Not even a 1st round top ten 1st round picked offered. Doesn’t sound like they want him as much as they pretend to. We will see if they up the offer for him before Oct 1st.
arc89, I’ll take Malik Monk in a heartbeat (and the protected FRP is icing on the cake).
Monk is a big-time bucket-getter, and the Warriors have no bench scoring with Kuminga gone.
The problem is the complications around the cap, not that Sac doesn’t want him.
monk’s problem is he makes too much money beacuse it would cost them Heild too. Maybe the Kings don’t want Heild. I don’t see teams lining up to do a 3 way or 4 way and take Monk in a deal. like I said before a few injuries from some teams and Kuminga gets traded. Kuminga need to realize he is not as wanted as his gaent thinks he is.
Kings cant take back Hield too. They may have to move more than Monk to make the money work for Kuminga.
It has to be Hield to a team with space to absorb him since JK counts for his full contract for SAC.
True so how does it benefit the warriors if they lose 2 player and a draft pick just to get Monk? Doesn’t sound like a good deal to me.
Regardless of if another 6’3″ guard would be a net positive for the Warriors, the BYC situation makes any of the rumored S&Ts non-starters.
You cool with paying a second or two to get out of, and lose Hield/Moody?
Yeah its a kid thinking he should be given things that he hasnt earned yet. The teams building around Steph your a project for the future. Figure it out already.
Turners an idiot though. I dont think he is raising the value of his client despite making the entire summer about him. Every casual that had no idea who he is knows now, but he turns down fair offers that will get him the money he wants, and to a situation he would prefer in the quickest way possible. If he wanted out faster he needed teams to make a real offer for him. They didnt which shows his value.
And another thing arc. With these things coming to the surface around contract time, do you or others really think it’s the first of it?
You don’t think this ‘me first’ agenda has not manifest at all during the first four years with the team?
I think there’s been plenty of hints along the way that this is how his agent operates and thinks.
It’s definitely not conducive to cooperative business arrangements and agreements, and the synergistic idea of contributing to the common cause of a championship for the franchise.
As my other comment said its not Kuminga but his agent. His agent is using Kuminga because of how his agent has hurt Kuminga from the original offer a year ago. There ios no way a 22 old would act this way. Unfortunately it shows Kuminga is easily manipulated by others.
Every pro athlete is all about the dollar, arc. It doesn’t hurt their marketability one iota. Jimmy Butler abandoned his team while under contract, but the Warriors came crawling.
If Kuminga signs the QO, that means he has veto rights up to becoming an unrestricted free agent after this season. The Warriors have no leverage in a trade discussion. Kuminga will be traded only to one of the teams he wants to sign a long-term deal with… and it will be for very little in return.
He cares about the money so much that he’s willing to turn down $75 million guaranteed and sign a 1 year deal for less than $10 million?
Giving Kuminga everything he wants would be “a sign of goodwill”?
Well, Kuminga taking whichever of the 3 eminently reasonable offers is best for him would also be “a sign of goodwill”.
IMO signing the QO would be a huge mistake from a career standpoint. The odds of him being able to get even as much as $20 mil/yr after that are slim (plus it means losing his Bird rights).
It’s too bad that he and Turner think dragging this out until the 1st helps them.
Kuminga can’t sign anything over 20 mill. Cause all the money committed already. So the QO is the only offer he has. Considering all the bashing him, that has gone on here for last two years. Talk about angry clowns……
You’d think you be happy to have this come to a conclusion.
The last breath here is. Not sure you can do this.
You sign him to a deal with 20 mill or less for 1st year. Then you trade him by Dec 15 or TD. At least this way you have a big trade chip. You can use for a strong playoff run.
So Al why are there not many teams offering even a 1st round pick for Kuminga. I am surprised about that. i could see a top 10 protected pick and a bench player for Kuminga. Nobody is offering anything of value. Why?
@KnickAL
Apparently you missed the fact that one of his offers is 3 years guaranteed at $54 million, which computes to $18 mil/yr. From this article:
“The three contract offers the Warriors made this summer all remain on the table…They are two years at $45MM and three years at $75.2MM, which both contain team options on the final season, or three years with no team option at the reduced rate of $54MM over three years.”
Please try to keep up!
Who was bashing him? He had $125-$150 million on the table. He rejected that. He definitely won’t sign 1 year $20 million. That is completely ridiculous.
> The odds of him being able to get even as much as
> $20 mil/yr after that are slim
Why? There will be many more teams with cap space.
If he takes the QO do you see him starting? No unless there is an injury. With Melton signing he will take some of Kuminga’s minutes. Kuminga will need to be dominate on court and be the player he claims to be. Subtract all the teams that will not be able to offer him a $25 million plus deal next year. Way his agent behaves it will probably be a 1 year deal on a bad team that promises him a starting job.
@aristotle
> The odds of him being able to get even as much as
> $20 mil/yr after that are slim
“Why? There will be many more teams with cap space.
1. In the unlikely event that he get’s traded while on the QO, his market value becomes $7.9 mil (why would a team trade for him since he can either just leave after the season, or they could wait until he’s a UFA and not have to lose ANY assets).
2. If he ends up serving the full season with GSW, it’s impossible to accurately predict hoe whatever happens as a warrior impacts his market value.
3. The # of teams projected to have $20 mil/yr in cap space next season is 5-6. What if they decide he’s only worth the MLE?
That’s what happened to Dennis Schroder when he turned down 4/80, the Celtics signed him for 1 yr at the MLE, and the next season he went back to the lakers on the vet min!
The crossroads continue…