The Warriors’ Kuminga Situation Just Got Worse

The Warriors’ Kuminga Situation Just Got Worse

In the 2021 draft, Jonathan Kaminga, the G-League Ignite, goes seventh to the Warriors. How amazing must that have felt? Not only do you make the NBA, you’re now teammates with Steph Curry. Oh, and Kaminga’s Ignite teammate Jaylen Green goes to the Rockets. You’re about to win like 20 games a year, buddy. Sucks to be you. But actually, if Kaminga could go back, he would do anything to switch places with Jaylen Green. Because while Kaminga was winning a ring on the Warriors, great. Green was playing 33 minutes a night, making mistakes, but growing as a player. The result was a $35 million a year contract for Jaylen Green. Kaminga about to make a fraction. In fact, a very possible scenario is $8 million per year. I know that’s a lot, but look at the other guys who were drafted around Kaminga. 8 million’s a joke. So, how’s this going to end up for JK? a very talented player. Well, new rumors are spicy and they seriously affect the Warriors and Steph Curry, too. But before we get to all that, 8 million is the qualifying offer, which is very rare. But if a rookie cannot make a deal with his first team, he bets on himself for one season to be a free agent. A lot of teams will have cav space next year could be great or not. We have seen it go both ways. For example, in 2009, Ben Gordon took that one-year qualifying offer. Balled out for the Bulls, got paid by the Pistons. But 2017, Nerland’s Noel turns down four years 70 million from the Mavericks because he wanted the max. Well, buddy, he ended up having to settle for a minimum contract. So, he turned at 70 million in 2017. And in all the years since then, he earned less than half that and had to retire. Betting on yourself doesn’t always work, but the Warriors are not risk-free either. If Kaminga does well, he can just leave next year for nothing and they will feel pretty dumb having turned down these trade offers right now. Oh, what trade offers are those? Well, the Suns and Kings have been most aggressive in a sign and trade for Jonathan Kaminga. Anthony Slater reports that the Dubs won at least a first round pick and a good young player, but the Suns offer is built around Grayson Allen. No thanks. And the Kings new offer is Kings get Jonathan Gaminga. Warriors get Dario Sarich, Devin Carter, and a protected first round pick. So far, the Warriors say no. They want either Keegan Murray or Keon Ellis from Sacramento. Two guys that can both defend and hit threes. But the Dub should have thought about that before. They drove this kid’s value so deep into the ground, it is a mess. Like, can you believe that there was once a time where they refused to deal JK for Pascal Seiakum, but now it’s too late? It’s like holding on to a stock as it goes all the way down to zero because you’re just overvaluing your own asset. So, teams are like, “Yeah, we know you messed up, Warriors. You want us to bail you out and overpay?” No. Now, the Warriors could offer Kaminga a short contract for like 2 years, 40 million bucks to be a free agent soon. But Sham says Kaminga is not interested. There is just way too much bad blood between them from over the years. Kaminga feels like he has been disrespected by the franchise and the coaching staff. It all came to a head back in January 2024. JK was never trusted, especially in the playoffs. But he was having a great game against Denver. This was his year to finally turn the corner and grow as a player. But after one missed defensive assignment, Steve Kerr benches him. never to be seen again. So that night he leaks to Shams. Jonathan Kaminga has lost faith in coach Steve Kerr and the 2021 lottery pick no longer believes Kerr will allow him to reach his full potential. Sources close to Kaminga tell the athletic at that exact moment. The front office should have been like, “Yeah, this isn’t going to work. We tried the whole two timelines thing and it failed. Get him out of here.” But instead, they hung on to that stock. Kerr put him in the starting lineup, but as soon as he started to make mistakes, he got benched again. Then last year, in the most important games of the season, Kaminga did not play at all. The only reason he even got minutes in the playoffs was because of injuries. Do you know how embarrassing that must feel for a kid that thinks he’s an all-star? I mean, last year, Kaminga was 15 points, five boards, two assists. Not a great shooter, which is his problem fitting on that team. But what’s key for him is his role. Because when another non-shooter, say Draymond Green, got suspended two years ago, Kaminga was much better. His numbers improved across the board, especially that efficiency. So all he really wants on another team like the Kings is that bigger role. But the Warriors stupidly hung on for him for way too long, now trying to get a first round pick and a good young player. Is he worth that? Is that what you just showed when you refused to play him down the stretch last year? Do you think other teams don’t have TVs or scouting departments? Now they’re like, “You didn’t even play this kid. You’ve mismanaged this whole thing, and you want us to reward you?” I mean, I can’t even believe they had the guts to ask for Keegan Murray. Kings must have laughed in their face. So, what are the Warriors going to do now? Well, they’ve got to do something because they are the only team right now with zero signings this off season. Only have nine players on the roster because of Jonathan Kaminga. Why? Well, Golden State has handshake deals with both Al Horford and DeAnthony Melton, but they can’t sign those guys until this JK mess gets all worked out. Once that happens, they’ll know exactly what exceptions they have available. But if they sign Al Hor and DeAnthony Melton right now, then they’ll be hardcapped, which means another team can just swoop in, offer Kaminga $1 more than the Warriors can afford, and just take him. Dubs can’t afford that. So maybe they do some short deal with JK, which sucks because you know that he’ll just be out for himself next year, not the team. Or maybe they sign and trade him for a lesser package. Either way, how good can this whole team be next year once they have this mess behind him? Well, obviously they’ve got a championship core. Jimmy Butler, Steph Curry, and Draymond Green. As good of a top three as anyone. I mean, after the Jimmy trade, the Dubs were top five in offense and defense. Jimmy boosted their free throw attempts, which every elite team needs. Steph is somehow still all world, turning 38 years old. The man’s got energy for days, forces defense to respect him like he’s still in his prime. But two big questions still remain. The first is health. The Miami Heat were afraid to extend Jimmy because he plays so few games, and they are one step hamstring away from disaster, which is exactly what we saw against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round. The second question is depth. What do they need around Steph, Jimmy, and Draymond? Elite defenders who can hit threes, and they just don’t have enough of those. So, somehow for the Warriors big three to actually reach their potential, they need to reach the playoffs next year in a good seed while healthy and fresh. Good luck with that. But, uh, that’s where Jonathan Kaminga could actually help. He is a young athletic player who scores about 20 a game on most nights. The problem is they don’t view him as a top player each and every night. And that will never change. Honestly, I think the Warriors are going to take a crappy deal from the Kings and move on because next season could be the last prime year of Steph and they can’t waste any more time. But I’ll tell you what team wishes they had the Warriors problems and that’s the Pelicans. New Orleans is now so bad that people are talking about them moving the franchise to another city. So, how did they go from a really bright future a few years ago to disaster in just a few seasons?

Jonathan Kuminga has reportedly shut down any offers by the Warriors at this time. That’s a problem because Golden State can’t sign any players until the JK situation is resolved and they only have nine players signed as of now. This is a look at what happens next and how it could ruin the final years of Stephen Curry’s NBA career.