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Jonathan Kuminga's contract stalemate with the Golden State Warriors has headlined a slow restricted free agent market this offseason. With the two sides not close on a deal, several sign-and-trade scenarios have been floated as potential resolutions. However, the team is unlikely to trade the 22-year-old forward, according to the San Francisco Standard's Tim Kawakami.
“The word I got when I checked in with a Warriors source on Sunday: Kuminga won't be traded this summer. He'll be back on the Warriors' roster to start the season. And it'll either come when he signs the Warriors' offer or accepts the $7.9 million one-year qualifying offer,” Kawakami wrote. “Now, of course, we all can read some or most of this as Warriors positioning in lieu of making a final push for a more favorable sign-and-trade agreement. The Warriors have definitely had some discussions with other teams about Kuminga. And once you start having discussions, you can always finish one of them, no matter what your public stance happens to be at the time.
“But several sources have indicated that the Warriors have been unenthusiastic about the general idea of a Kuminga sign-and-trade from the outset. The broad context is that Joe Lacob remains a fan of Kuminga's and is determined to either keep the 22-year-old on the roster or get real value in return. And he's willing to wait it out.”
Kuminga is one of several high-profile restricted agents, including Josh Giddey, Cam Thomas, and Quentin Grimes, who have faced tepid restricted free agent markets. The Brooklyn Nets are the NBA's only team with cap space, limiting opposing teams seeking to sign the above players to the $14.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Warriors rebuffing Jonathan Kuminga trade offers amid contract stalemate
The Warriors have offered Jonathan Kuminga a two-year, $45 million deal, which he has continually declined, according to ESPN's Anthony Slater. Much of his trepidation stems from Golden State insisting on the contract including a second-year team option. The team also wants Kuminga to forfeit first-year trade veto rights granted to players who sign a one-year deal with a team they played for the previous season (Golden State's two-year offer with a team option is treated as a one-year deal in such a scenario).
The Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns have expressed interest in swinging a sign-and-trade for the former lottery pick. However, Golden State is under no pressure to trade Kuminga for pennies on the dollar.
Kuminga holds little leverage in negotiations, given the limited cap space around the league. If he is not keen on accepting the Warriors' proposal, he'll be forced to sign his one-year, $7.9 million qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent next summer. In such a scenario, he would have veto rights on any trade during the coming season.
However, accepting the qualifying offer would be a risky proposition for Kuminga. The fifth-year forward would be forfeiting $14.6 million this season. He would also risk having a further diminished role during a contract year, as he would not be part of Golden State's future plans as an impending unrestricted free agent.
The deadline for Kuminga to accept his qualifying offer isn't until Oct. 1. It can be pushed back if both sides agree to it.
Time will tell whether the Warriors' stance on trading Kuminga is genuine or posturing. If Kuminga does not accept Golden State's offer, expect the team to continue to hold out to maximize their potential trade return.
