We have entered the second full week in September, the month in which NBA training camps start, and Jonathan Kuminga is still not a member of the Golden State Warriors. You know this. I know you know this. The whole saga is getting tedious. “Just get a deal done,” you yell, fists clenched, on the banks of the San Francisco Bay, hoping the Basketball Gods are listening.
It might — might — make you feel better to know the holdup in contract talks for Kuminga, a restricted free agent, aren’t stalled for the sole purpose of irritating fans. According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line / Bleacher Report, the Warriors are holding steady on their current offer for Kuminga, because the other option might be parting with Moses Moody:
“They don’t see any reason why they should change their offer. They haven’t gotten anything from Phoenix or from Sacramento that the Warriors deem would make them better, or that would just be worth Jonathan Kuminga or better than Jonathan Kuminga. There’s only really also been sign-and-trade scenarios from those teams that would potentially lead Golden State in a salary matching standpoint to part ways with Buddy Hield or Moses Moody, two players that the Warriors just absolutely do not want to part with…”
Well, yeah that makes sense. They shouldn’t want to part with Moses Moody because he’s a pretty obvious part of the Warriors future, whatever that may look like. If the team has to choose between Moody and Kuminga (which they really don’t have to do) the front office is letting you know which way they’d lean.
The Buddy Hield aspect of this is interesting, but the same logic applies. It’s not as though the Dubs are “choosing” Hield over Kuminga… they just believe they’ll come to a resolution that allows them to keep both on the roster.
Staying patient is annoying, but the right move for the Warriors
It may not feel that way, but there will be a resolution to this eventually. The Nets set the precedent of signing their restricted free agent to a qualifying offer, while the Bulls brought back Josh Giddey on a four-year deal. If I were forced to predict what Kuminga’s deal looks like, it’s somewhere in between those two. Luckily, I’m not being forced to predict that. But I guess I did anyway.
The Warriors envision a world where they can bring back Kuminga and not have to shuffle the current roster around to do it. In order for that world to be this world, they can’t offer much more than they’re currently offering for Kuminga. Thus, the stalemate continues.
