According to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson II, both the Golden State Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga are interested in considering a sign-and-trade that would benefit both sides.
As of late, Steve Kerr has completely disregarded and pushed off the services of Kuminga, especially when he could have been used in tight or really tough situations. Plus, the Warriors have found it difficult to get Kuminga in a positive, consistent space where it wouldn’t disrupt the flow of the team.
A sign-and-trade would be beneficial to both sides, as Kuminga would prove his worth for a team who wants him and the Warriors would get draft capital, a needing piece, or whatever his return value would look like.
For this consideration to take place, Golden State would need to extend the $7.9 million qualifying offer to Kuminga during this upcoming offseason. Per reports, they are expected to do so.
While Kerr has lost full confidence in Kuminga, owner Joe Lacob has not. He remains committed to the 22-year-old and wants to see him return to the team next regular season. However, if he is traded, Lacob reportedly won’t let him go for nothing. It must be for the right price in his head.
“There are certainly things he has to improve on, but he’s 22 years old,” Lacob said. “He’s got a hell of a lot of potential, and I would think he would be a part of our future plans. Now we’ll have to see how the market all shakes out. We have a lot of evaluating to do. Not me necessarily. But everybody — from coaching staff to basketball operations. We’ll kind of sit around and talk about how we want to construct the team for next year and what the situation is with respect to him.”
