CBA restrictions will limit potential sign-and-trade scenarios for Jonathan Kuminga in the coming weeks, with only 50% of the young forward’s next contract counting as outgoing salary for the Golden State Warriors.
It means that the Warriors may not be able to yield reasonable value in return for Kuminga, and that their best outcome might be too simply bring back the 22-year-old as a restricted free agent.
Alternatively, Golden State could also add salary pieces to beef up what they can take back in a Kuminga sign-and-trade, with fellow 2021 lottery pick Moses Moody appearing like the obvious candidate into making that happen.
Moses Moody may find himself in a Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade
The Warriors aren’t going to be able to acquire a potentially needle-moving $25-30 million player with just Kuminga, even if the former seventh overall pick gets a $25+ million per year deal himself this offseason.
However, they can reach that level by combining Moody’s contract with Kuminga’s expected deal, allowing themselves far more scope to acquire a true difference-maker rather than being limited to those making around $20 million or less.
There’s also the fact Moody could be a real asset in a trade, rather than just being needed for matching salary. The 23-year-old is coming off a disappointing playoff campaign, but otherwise had a career-best year that suggests his three-year, $37.5 million contract will age well as a team-friendly deal.
Moody started 31-straight games for the Warriors as they surged over the second-half of the season, finishing with averages of 9.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists on 37.4% 3-point shooting (4.6 attempts per game).
The former 14th overall pick took on a larger role following Andrew Wiggins’ departure to the Miami Heat, and Golden State won’t want to be giving him up lightly despite playoff struggles that led to a far reduced role.
But even though the Warriors may value Moody highly, he, Kuminga and the franchise’s abundance of future draft capital still serve as the best way to find a major upgrade this offseason while keeping the veteran core intact.
Moody was even listed as the most likely Warrior to be traded in a recent piece by Dan Favale of Bleacher Report, with the potential of his inclusion in a Kuminga deal or as a standalone contract alongside draft capital.
“It isn’t clear how much standalone value Moody will have if the Dubs shop him. But he’s young and cheap enough for teams to envision evolution in a more prominent role, and Golden State has other assets to attach if the right target comes along,” Favale wrote.
With the Miami Heat having now missed out on Kevin Durant, they could suddenly swing their interest to Kuminga. If Golden State were interested in a reunion with Andrew Wiggins, for example, they’d almost certainly need to give up Moody (on top of Kuminga) to make it happen in some sort of multi-team trade.
Whether the Warriors would think it worthwhile to move Kuminga and Moody for Wiggins remains to be seen, but rest assured that the young wing will again find himself in trade discussions this offseason.
