Jonathan Kuminga’s name is likely to continue being bandied about in Golden State Warriors trade speculation prior to February’s mid-season deadline, even if the young forward continues producing excellent performances like we saw in Tuesday’s season-opening win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
However, more performances like that will only further confirm that Kuminga will only be dealt in exceptional circumstances, with one NBA insider quashing the idea of the Warriors taking draft capital or some kind of downgrade in talent.
Warriors will only trade Jonathan Kuminga for a legitimate star
According to Sam Amick of The Athletic following Tuesday’s opening night victory, there’s a limited list of names that the Warriors would actually trade Kuminga for right now despite the constant speculation.
“While so many have assumed that Kuminga would be traded by the February deadline, the truth is that the Warriors don’t see a lot of players out there whom they’d be willing to swap for him anytime soon,” Amick wrote.
Amick did bring up Giannis Antetokounmpo and Trey Murphy III as players who Golden State would be willing to give Kuminga up for, having both been seen as dream trade targets for the franchise over recent months (and for years in the case of the Milwaukee Bucks superstar).
Even Murphy might not be enough of an upgrade if Kuminga is going to deliver those sort of performances on a consistent basis. The 23-year-old had 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists in nearly 34 minutes on Tuesday, having shot 4-of-6 from 3-point range which included three in a dominant third-quarter.
A nonsensical Kuminga for Nikola Vucevic trade continues to be floated now that they make similar salaries, and even more so after former NBA player Chandler Parsons predicted the Warrior forward would be a member of the Chicago Bulls by the All-Star break.
Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey proposed earlier in the month that the Bulls could trade Vucevic and a lottery protected first-round pick for Kuminga, giving the Warriors another veteran center option beyond Al Horford who is currently limited to 20 minutes per game.
However, Amick’s comments should put an end to such an idea, with Golden State evidently only willing to move Kuminga if it nets them an obvious and unequivocal upgrade. That wasn’t on offer during sign-and-trade negotiations during the offseason, leaving the Warriors to re-sign the former seventh overall pick on a two-year, $48.5 million contract (second year team option).
