Warriors need to VALUE Jonathan Kuminga 🗣️ – Perk calls for Steve Kerr to embrace star | NBA Today

Warriors need to VALUE Jonathan Kuminga 🗣️ – Perk calls for Steve Kerr to embrace star | NBA Today

Welcome to NBA Today. I’m Vanessa Richardson and of course for Malikica Andrews. I’m joined here in our LA studio by senior writer Tim Bontimps. We’ve got Anscape senior writer David Dennis Jr. and of course NBA champ. Shout out to Htown Kendrick Perkins. Hi Perk. Ace Town in the building. Vanessa, look at you. Look at you. Ace Town in the big. Yeah. Tim Fit going to be calling like he going to be calling. Hey, what you doing now? You know your home in H. You going to be calling in a minute. You’re the best perk. All right, and as everybody knows, it may be July, but the NBA doesn’t sleep. So, let’s get to one of the biggest questions left, and that is what on earth is going on in the Bay. The Warriors made that big move at the 2025 trade deadline, acquiring Jimmy Butler. It paid off immediately. The Warriors went 22 and five down the stretch with Butler and Curry in the lineup. And yeah, it carried over to round one. As Perk and I both know, the Warriors took down the second seated Rockets in a hard-fought sevengame series. But the run ended in round two when Curry’s game one hamstring knocked him out for the rest of the series. And the Warriors have followed that up by making zero, yes, zero, acquisitions with NBA experience this off season. All other NBA teams have made at least a move now three and a half weeks into free agency. And we now welcome in our senior insider Shams Chirana who is in Miami. Shams, why has it been such a slow start to the offseason for the Golden State Warriors? Vanessa, the Warriors entire off seasonason has been essentially on pause for one player and that’s the restricted free agent Jonathan Kaminga. And they have wanted to figure out his situation before making their other offseason moves. And so I saw Jonathan Kaminga this morning at a workout in Miami. He’s in good spirits. He had a good workout. He did tell me though that he is in absolutely no rush on doing a deal with the Warriors right now and he’s not accepting their current offers. He added that he wants to continue to explore options with his agent Aaron Turner, whether that’s continuing conversations with the Warriors, but also sign and trade options that are available to him in the marketplace. Okay, Sean, so you use the term options. What do those other options for Jonathan Kaminga look like? I’m told the Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings are two teams that have made concrete offers with the Warriors over the last week or so. They’re two of the more aggressive teams with Kaminga and they’re also offering him an opportunity for significant minutes, a starting caliber role in their lineup and those are two things that he wants more than anything. So where this is at Vanessa is the Warriors do not want anything though that is available to them that’s being offered to them in signing trades. And on the other hand with Jonathan the Kaminga, he is not ready to move forward with taking any of the Warriors current offers. He’s not in a hurry to do a deal there yet. And so 24 days into the off season, it’s a staring contest between these two sides that could continue much longer than just this month. And so we’re nearing August and still no Warriors moved so far this off season. Great info for sure. Thank you, Shams. Okay, so the Warriors three most important players are at least 35 years old with Steph set to turn 38 in March and Jimmy Butler turns 36 before the season even starts. Perk, there has been so much talk about Kaminga this off season. When he is given an actual opportunity, an actual opportunity, what does he bring to the table? He brings a lot. I mean, they drafted him number seven overall in the lottery, you know, in 2021. And he’s he’s gotten better every single season. He brings athleticism to the table on both ends of the floor. He’s got better offensively. And so my question to the Warriors is the organization in Steve Cerr is why hasn’t Steve Curry embraced this young man? Why hasn’t he wrapped his arms around him as a guy that y’all drafted with the number seven pick when Steph Curry went out last last postseason the back end of the Timberwolves uh the playoff the series the the games against the Timberwolves in the playoffs he did his thing. So, you’re developing this young stud who to me has an allNBA type ceiling. What is the problem? Every coach that I’ve seen, all-time greats, have adjusted. Whether that was Greg Papovic, whether that was, you know, Rick Carile, they all made adjustments to this new era and this new this these new guys in the NBA. That’s what the Warriors need to do. They need to value this young man because he’s elite. He has an elite upside. Well, it’s not that the Warriors don’t value Jonathan Kaminga, right? Obviously, if they didn’t value him, they would have just gotten rid of him this off seasonason and whatever signing trade they could do. The problem that the Warriors have with Jonatha, Jonathan Kaminga has with the Warriors that it’s just a very awkward fit. As we saw in that clip or in those numbers there, Jonathan Kaminga put up big numbers with Steph Curry out of the lineup. But if you have Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler dominating the ball, that means Jonathan Kaminga needs to fill in the gaps and do some smaller things for them, which are things he has been very inconsistent with and has struggled with at times. and playing a smaller role has been an issue with the Warriors and Jonathan going forward. It’s why the Jonathan K situation to Perk’s point has not played out in the way he and the Warriors would like. But at the same time, we’re also looking at a restricted free agent market where there is no salary cap space available. So signing trades are hard. Yeah, both the Kings and Suns have interest as Sean put it out earlier, but both of those teams don’t have salary cap space to offer Jonathan Minga to sign him. So they have to send money back to Golden State that Golden State is not interested in taking back. So, all of this, I think, points toward Jonathan Gomez signing a short-term deal with Golden State at some point this summer that both gives them the ability to do something with him later and al also gives him the ability to build on that play he had at the end of that postseason without Steph on the court, which to Perk’s point showed what he can do and gives them, I think, some reason to come into next season if he’s there, saying, “We need to try to find a way to showcase what this guy can do either so he can have him improve with us or we can have him improve us by moving him into a trade somewhere else.” Value depends on so much, right? like value depends what team you’re on. What does the market look like? So, David, what is Jonathan Kaminga’s actual value in free agency and on this Warriors team? Well, that’s the tricky thing, right? I mean, the for the Warriors, I think that they have to figure this Jonathan Kaminga thing out because that is the difference between being sort of in the middle of this uh you know, log jam at the bottom of the Western Conference or being an actual contender. Like I think that they have, you know, the zero uh moves is alarming for some people, but Anthony is probably coming probably coming and then um you have the idea that Kaminga is going to you cannot have a gaping hole of Jonathan Kaminga uh not being on this team or whatever they’re trying to get back from him. The problem is, as Tim has alluded to, this team was 0 and seven in the playoffs when he played more than 20 minutes. what his value is to the Golden State Warriors is that they need a guy who can fill in those gaps, who can get those rebounds, who can play defense, who can fill in uh in different positions. He has not quite been able to do that. And part of that is Steve Kerr, as as Perk said, has been pulling the uh plug on Kaminga a little bit too early and not allowing him to fit into that. So the mix has been really kind of a mess and Steve Kerr really has to take on the leadership and say how can I figure out this Kaminga situation this year because again he is the difference between giving a little bit of more room in this window for the Warriors this season and this thing being another early early exit for him. Well speaking of the Warriors championships we always with dynasties talk about windows right. So Kendrick Perkins, is their championship window still open? It’s still open. I believe it’s still there. Anytime you have Steph Curry, you have Jimmy Butler, we saw how they elevated their game last postseason before the injuries happened. And Draymond Green, he still has the ability to be, you know, a a great defender, anchor that defense. I love what I saw out of Pipsky last postseason. I thought towards the end of the season, in the postseason, he started to grow. But again, this Jonathan Kaminga uh space, you know, this Jonathan Kaminga situation, you need a guy like this. You need athleticism at the wing position. When you look at the top two teams in my eyes in the Western Conference, you’re looking at Oklahoma City Thunder. Obviously, they just won the NBA championship. And then you’re looking at the Houston Rockets. They keep loading up on the wing position. I ain’t talking about Buffalo Wild Wings. I’m talking about bodies. That’s how important it is. is the athleticism. It’s the most important position in the damn NBA. And they have a guy in Jonathan Kaminga, as David just alluded to, that could move the needle for them to take them over the hump if they just embrace him. The problem with the Warriors having a championship window and the problem with anybody else, even including the Houston Rockets having championship window in the West, is because there’s a team that just won 68 games and won the title in the West that had two players older than 27 on their roster. So, I think there’s a very small window for just about anybody in the West to win a title right now, including Golden State. However, the Warriors did go 22 and five with Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry down the stretch. They do have a very high ceiling. Steph has always given the Thunder a lot of trouble. If they can get to the playoffs healthy, I do think they have a chance to make a run, but again, right now, to me, it’s Oklahoma City and everybody else out west. Uh-huh. Yeah, that that window is is closing very fast, but there’s two little light-skinned hands right there on the window pane keeping it open. That’s Steph Curry. The fact that this dude is still a top five player in this league. And you got to remember, as you said at the very beginning, he is one hamstring injury away possibly from being in that conference finals against that Thunder team. I am not going to be doing anything that counts this dude out. But the Warriors need to figure some of these things out in the margins to make it as possible as they can for him to end his career making a few playoff runs. One real quick thing, one other real quick thing to add. At some point this off season, another Jonathan Kame thing gets sorted out. I think it’s very likely Horford winds up with the Golden State Warriors, he will help them an awful lot whenever that move gets done. Assuming everything gets cleared up with John, my guy Perk looked confused by DDJ’s point. Perk, do you disagree? Vanessa, let’s go to commercial because uh David just said that Steph Curry is David David just said that Steph Curry still is a top five player in the NBA and Tim said it’s Oklahoma City and everybody else like the Rockets just didn’t get Kevin Durant. They finished second in the in the Western Conference last year. I think I think the Rockets without Kevin Durant and now the Rockets have Kevin Durant. Trust me, I hear you. Rockets are going to be quite good, Kirk. Don’t worry, I’m not I’m not doubting them. Now we welcome in ESPN’s new Warriors reporter, Anthony Slater, who’s making his NBA Today debut as well. Yay! Claps all around. Welcome, Anthony. No one has been closer to this team than you over the past several years. Kaminga’s role has changed throughout his four seasons in the league currently as of right now. What is Steve Kerr’s perception of Jonathan Kaminga? You know, Steve Kerr and Jonathan Kaminga actually I would categorize as having a decent personal relationship and even improving a little bit. Uh Kerr has been in contact with Kamiga during this process and I’d say he’s one of the leading voices kind of trying to patch this together. Uh but there’s a lot of scar tissue uh basketball scar tissue which you know has been referenced even on this show. And Kaminga knows that Steve Kerr would plan to play him a lot in the regular season. They would need him to score a bunch especially with the older team when some of their stars sit. But Jonathan Kaminga also knows that Steve Kerr’s history tells him he will go away from him in the playoffs at winning time in big games. And Jonathan Kaminga is no longer wanting to be a plan B, an alternative, a regular season option. Uh he wants to be, you know, a full-time featured guy in an offense. And as much as I think him and Kerr actually do generally get along personally, uh he knows Kerr’s history and coaching him on the court and and that hasn’t led to what he has wanted it to lead to. Yeah, you and I were both at that Rockets Warriors series. He basically did play. This Warriors team, by the way, has nine players under contract for next season. They’re going to have to fill out that roster at some point. What else do you see them prioritizing before training camp, Anthony? Yeah, Tim said it earlier. All signs point to Al Horford. They’re certainly interested in him. I would say if they are not able to get that done, if Horford, who you hear is also mulling retirement. If he’s not on the roster next year, it’s a big miss by the Warriors cuz that’s in their plans. They need a stretch five. They’re also looking for perimeter defense. There is mutual interest in a reunion with DeAnthony Melton, uh, who played only six games for them last year before he tore an ACL, but it was a really good fit. Steph Curry likes him and another they want some uh extra shooting. Another name I’m hearing with mutual interest, Seth Curry actually as a potential bench shooting option with a family tie. And then you know the other thing they need is they need youth, they need athleticism and they need scoring and Jonathan Kamiga fits that. It’s clear Jonathan Kamiga is in their plans but I’m not sure the Warriors are in Kamiga’s plans and that’s what’s still uh trying to get sorted out. Great stuff. Definitely seems like a fluid situation. Thank you again Anthony and welcome to the team. Thanks for your time. Yeah, thanks for having me.

On NBA Today, Kendrick Perkins, David Dennis Jr., Tim Bontemps, Shams Charania and Anthony Slater discuss:

0:00 Why has it been a slow start in free agency for the Warriors?
2:44 Latest on Warriors restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga?
3:30 What does Kuminga bring when given the opportunity on the court?
6:00 What is Kuminga’s value right now?
7:41 Is the championship window still open for this Warriors team?
10:40 What is Steve Kerr’s perception of Kuminga?
12:22 What is the priority for the Warriors this offseason before training camp?
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