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The Golden State Warriors' Jonathan Kuminga saga continues with the young wing still an unsigned restricted free agent. But could the Sacramento Kings be a realistic landing spot?
Just a few years removed from a magical season in which they ended the longest playoff drought in NBA history, the Kings are searching for answers as to how they can rise back up again. One way, in theory, is to invest in a player like Kuminga, 22, who has felt underutilized in his four seasons with Golden State.
That could realistically happen, although there are reportedly some big disagreements on how it could happen.
“As for the Kings, which last spoke with the Warriors earlier this week, team sources say they’ve offered a three-year, $63 million deal for Kuminga in a proposal that would send veteran guard Malik Monk and their 2030 first-round pick (lottery protected) to the Warriors,” The Athletic's Sam Amick wrote.
“If that pick didn’t convey, then the Warriors would get the least favorable of the Kings or San Antonio’s first-round pick in 2031. Those protections have been the primary sticking point, team sources said, as the Warriors have insisted that the first-rounder be unprotected. Thus, the stalemate.”
ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel also recently reported that while Sacramento and Golden State have had multiple discussions about a Kuminga sign-and-trade, “there has been zero movement on this front.”
Additionally, he said Monk's name has been mentioned as a part of a potential deal, although the negotiations are still seemingly far apart, with Golden State seemingly unimpressed with Sacramento's initial offer of Dario Saric, Devin Carter, and a protected first-round pick and the Kings refusing to part ways with Keegan Murray or Keon Ellis, who the Warriors indicated interest in.
It seems difficult to imagine any team giving up much in the way of value for Kuminga, considering the Warriors nor Kuminga himself seems very interested in a long-term partnership with one another.
While athletic and having shown flashes of great potential, Kuminga's playing time has fluctuated wildly under head coach Steve Kerr. Kuminga has made his annoyance with this known, surely in part since it likely decreased his value as a restricted free agent, a status he has kept through the entire first month of the offseason.
Kuminga, if he is not involved in a sign-and-trade or extension with the Warriors, could sign his $7.9 million qualifying offer, which would enable him to become an unrestricted free agent next offseason.
