The Golden State Warriors effectively took themselves out of the Kevin Durant sweepstakes at last season’s Trade Deadline, moving on to add Jimmy Butler. Their focus this summer has instead been on the future of young forward Jonathan Kuminga.
One team rumored to be in the mix for Kuminga is the Miami Heat. After moving on from Butler last season they look lost at sea, trying to find their way back to contention. They were heavily in the mix to trade for Kevin Durant themselves, but were not willing to include their best assets. Now that Durant has been traded to the Houston Rockets, the Heat are free to move on to Plan B: Jonathan Kuminga.
There are significant barriers to any Jonathan Kuminga trade this summer. Because of the league’s rules on sign-and-trading restricted free agents, the Warriors and any team trading for Kuminga will need to jump through multiple hoops to make the salary work out.
For a team to be willing to do that, they need to both value Kuminga highly and have the desperation to pull off a trade now rather than waiting for six months, when those restrictions lift and Kuminga can be traded just like any other veteran player.
The Miami Heat might just be desperate, however. Not for Kevin Durant, it appears, but it’s hard to imagine the 80-year-old Pat Riley being content going into the season projected as the 8th or 9th seed in the East. Miami needs to do something; they didn’t get Durant, they aren’t getting Giannis Antetokounmpo, but they need a No. 2 scorer beside Tyler Herro.
The Miami Heat will pursue Jonathan Kuminga
Jonathan Kuminga showed in the Warriors’ second round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves that he is capable right now of scoring at a high level against NBA defenses. His fit on the Warriors — both positionally and with Steve Kerr’s system — has always been difficult, but in the right situation he can thrive. That is why teams like the Heat will go after him this summer and beyond; his upside remains extremely high.
On the Heat, Kuminga could be the second scorer playing off of Tyler Herro, with Bam Adebayo having something of a ceiling on how many shots he can create for himself because his efficiency starts to plummet. Adebayo and Kel’el Ware are both developing as 3-point shooters, and it has long been obvious Kuminga’s best situation in which to thrive is playing next to a stretch 5. The Heat have a much better situation than cramming him next to Kevon Looney or expecting him to hold up defensively with Quenten Post behind him.
The Heat have long prized athletes, and Kuminga remains a top-tier athlete who has the tools to rebound and defend at a high level if he locks in. No team excels at getting every single player to lock in than the Heat, and Kuminga fully engaged and in the right system could be an All-Star.
Miami has to navigate the salary situation, from sending a lower amount back to the Warriors to moving some salary to a third team such as the Brooklyn Nets. What will Brooklyn pay Golden State to make it worth their while? Andrew Wiggins probably makes too much for a return. Would a double sign-and-trade for Davion Mitchell be a piece of it? Could Kyle Anderson return? Is Duncan Robinson involved?
There are other teams that could get in the mix for Kuminga, including the aforementioned Nets, but the Heat are now the top option and they just lost the Kevin Durant sweepstakes. Their next target could very well be Jonathan Kuminga — and it would not be a surprise to see Kuminga taking his talents to South Beach this summer.
