As the Jonathan Kuminga standstill continues, there is one outcome the Warriors might want to avoid.
While the young forward is in no rush to accept any of Golden State’s contract offers, which reportedly have been in the two-year, $40-million range, there is one offer that, if Kuminga accepts, could hinder the Warriors long-term, as one anonymous NBA executive explained to The Athletic’s Fred Katz.
“If he takes the qualifying offer, the Warriors are f–ked from a team-building standpoint, because they need to get him on a deal where they can trade him,” the executive told Katz. “That’s the key for them.”
The Warriors offered Kuminga, a restricted free agent, the one-year, $7.9 million qualifying offer on June 28, and although the 22-year-old is seeking a deal that pays him much more annually and long-term, accepting the qualifying offer would allow Kuminga to play out the 2025-26 NBA season with the Warriors before becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer, when his market could be much more robust.
If the Warriors were to sign Kuminga this offseason, it benefits them to lock up the young forward to a deal worth much more than the $7.9-million qualifying offer figure so they are able to match contracts in a potential trade for an impact player next season, if they choose to include him in a package.
However, for Kuminga, taking the modest one-year deal this summer might end up being a viable option as his already limited market does not appear to be shaping up how he, or the Warriors, had hoped.
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