Ever since the end of last season, things have been messy between Jonathan Kuminga and the Golden State Warriors. He expressed his frustration with his role and reportedly lost faith in Steve Kerr’s coaching style. Now, months after the season, he says that he’s in no rush to sign a new deal as a restricted free agent. This will set up what could be a long offseason between Kuminga and the Dubs.
Advertisement
Near the beginning of January, Kuminga injured his right ankle in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. At that point, he’d been averaging close to 17 points per game and 26 minutes a night in a hybrid role of starting and coming off the bench. He was also coming off averaging 21 points in December.
Then, when he went down with the injury, the Warriors had to make a move to survive in the grueling Western Conference. So, they got Jimmy Butler, and he filled in perfectly. The only issue was that he essentially stole Kuminga’s role. Coming back from injury, Kuminga averaged just 12 points and 20 minutes per game.
It wasn’t that Kuminga was playing badly; he had a few strong performances down the stretch. However, when the playoffs arrived, he sat out four of the seven games against the Houston Rockets. It was an inconsistent role that the Warriors put him in.
Now, Kuminga is expressing a desire to play in a more consistent role amid contract discussions.
“Beyond the contract demands, Kuminga is in search of a more guaranteed, consistent starting role and featured opportunity, sources said. That’s something both the Suns and Kings have pitched,” wrote Anthony Slater of ESPN.
When Kuminga’s role became more inconsistent with the Warriors, he expressed his frustration and lack of faith in his head coach, Steve Kerr. The coach reportedly told him that they didn’t appreciate how often he looked off Steph Curry to make his own offense. This made the forward feel as though his potential was being capped with the team.
Now, Kerr is attempting to fix the relationship between him and Kuminga. He promised him more playing time next season, especially in the regular season.
“Kuminga would be a significant part of the Warriors’ rotation to open next season, and they’ll need his supplementary scoring on nights that either Steph Curry, 37, or Jimmy Butler, 35, rest. That’s something head coach Steve Kerr has voiced to Kuminga in recent weeks. Kerr has been one of the leading voices trying to patch this together,” Slater penned
Warriors fans are surely happy to hear the news. Kuminga is still such a young player, and he’s shown flashes of potential. At the very end of the season, he got to show off that potential, too.
Jonathan Kuminga is not interested in being a secondary option, per @anthonyVslater
“Beyond the contract demands, Kuminga is in search of a more guaranteed, consistent starting role and featured opportunity, sources said. That’s something both the Suns and Kings have pitched.… pic.twitter.com/OUsEKEZk0p
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 24, 2025
Curry went down in the playoffs, and Kuminga played more in the second round against the Minnesota Timberwolves. In that series, he had games scoring 30, 23, and 26 points. That’s why he still thinks that he should be viewed as an essential scoring option, and not a fallback to Curry all of the time.
“But Kuminga no longer wants to be a secondary option or a fallback plan, fearing a minimization in important moments.”
All in all, it’s hard to know how this is going to play out without access to the conversations between Kuminga and Kerr. We can’t really judge what his feelings are on returning to the team. But what we do know is that he was frustrated, isn’t in a rush to sign a new deal during restricted free agency, and has been contacted by the Kings and Suns. So, connect the dots.
However, Kuminga’s role has been in doubt several times before on the Warriors. He seems like he wants to be the top dog somewhere else. It wouldn’t be surprising if he waited the team out and they got a sign-and-trade deal done with one of the top suitors.
