Not long ago, Golden State Warriors restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga was named a potential “fallback option” for the Miami Heat if the team were to miss out on superstars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant via trade.
Lately, noise connecting Kuminga to the Heat has grown even louder, an unsurprising development since Durant is headed elsewhere and Antetokounmpo may stay put.
However, Five Reasons Sports has reported that the Heat’s interest in acquiring Kuminga has been “overstated, at least at this time.”
The Heat’s pursuit of Jonathan Kuminga has been overstated, at least at this time, per sources.
https://twitter.com/5ReasonsSports/status/1939023943429451867?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1939023943429451867%7Ctwgr%5Eee28e77783d76b7b32e8de607a9bcebcf16ae315%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fheatnation.com%2Frumors%2Freport-heats-interest-in-jonathan-kuminga-has-been-overstated-at-least-at-this-time%2F
Some here are saying I should have said “interest in” rather than “pursuit of” (in light of tampering, etc). Fair. Interest has been overstated, at least at this time.
https://twitter.com/5ReasonsSports/status/1939034782878347754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1939034782878347754%7Ctwgr%5Eee28e77783d76b7b32e8de607a9bcebcf16ae315%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fheatnation.com%2Frumors%2Freport-heats-interest-in-jonathan-kuminga-has-been-overstated-at-least-at-this-time%2F
The Warriors just recently officially tendered Kuminga’s qualifying offer, meaning he will indeed be a restricted free agent this offseason.
Playing under head coach Steve Kerr in Golden State has arguably held the No. 7 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft back from maximizing his impact at the highest level. Kuminga hasn’t averaged more than 26.3 minutes per game in any of his first four seasons in the NBA with Golden State, and he’s also come off the bench in far more games than he’s started.
Kuminga seemingly gave fans a glimpse of how impactful he could be with a larger role after guard Stephen Curry went down with a hamstring injury in Golden State’s second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves this season.
He scored 18 points or more in every one of the final four contests in the best-of-seven series and went off for a whopping 30 points while shooting 11-of-18 from the field and 3-of-4 from deep in Golden State’s Game 3 loss.
At just 22 years old, Kuminga may still have enough time and untapped potential in the tank to eventually evolve into a very good player at the NBA level.
Maybe the Heat are a team that could help Kuminga unlock his potential, but in light of Five Reasons Sports’ report, fans of the team shouldn’t get their hopes up that he will land with the Heat in the near future. He will still be a name to monitor at the very least, though.
