Golden State Warriors fans have witnessed the full Jonathan Kuminga experience through the first month of the season, with an impressive start followed by some underwhelming performances and now a knee injury that’s seen him miss the past five games.
Despite Kuminga’s positive early form that previously had Steve Kerr label him as an ‘entrenched starter’, noted NBA analyst Bill Simmons of The Ringer doesn’t believe the young forward will be on the Warriors for too much longer.
Bill Simmons predicts exactly when Warriors will trade Jonathan Kuminga
Kuminga ended his long restricted free agency wait by signing a two-year, $48 million (second-year team option) with Golden State at the start of October, with all eyes immediately turning to January 15 as the first date he’s eligible to be traded.
Simmons doesn’t believe Kuminga will last long once he becomes trade eligible, even predicting that the former seventh overall pick will be moved the following day on January 16.
“January 16 he won’t be on the team. It’s just my guess, I don’t have inside info,” Simmons said recently on his podcast with Zach Lowe.
To suggest that Kuminga will be traded the day after he’s eligible would be to suggest that Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the front office will have something organized well before then.
Perhaps that’s possible, particularly with a team like the Sacramento Kings who showed the most interest in Kuminga during the offseason, and who will undoubtedly want to change things up as soon as possible given their woeful 3-13 start to the season that included a last start 137-96 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
However, a deal with the Kings still isn’t blatantly obvious unless the Warriors have interest in DeMar DeRozan. Even if they did, the more likely probability is that Golden State waits until right up until closer to the February deadline, giving themselves as much opportunity to explore the trade market as they possibly can.
Simmons’ prediction would also suggest the Warriors are desperate to move on from Kuminga as soon as possible, something that doesn’t really appear to be the case despite his current absence on the sidelines.
There is a legitimate chance that Golden State do trade Kuminga before the mid-season deadline, but none of the rival players that have already found themselves in genuine trade speculation really make sense and/or can be acquired with the 23-year-old’s $22.5 million salary.
