For most of Jonathan Kuminga’s time with the Warriors, he’s been involved in trade rumors. It seemed like he’d finally get a change of scenery this past summer as his extension negotiations struggled along, but ultimately, he ended up back in the bay on a two-year deal that included a team option in the second year.
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Things didn’t stay warm and fuzzy for long. Kuminga earned a starting spot early in the season, but has since been relegated to the bench. He’s perfectly healthy, but hasn’t played in a game since mid-December, which should tell you all you need to know.
Due to his extension, Kuminga wasn’t eligible to be traded until yesterday, and he wasted no time in making his intentions known. He reportedly has already requested a trade, and now it’s just a matter of seeing if, when and to whom the Warriors will trade him.
On today’s episode of No Fouls Given, Danny Green and Paul Pierce talked about where Kuminga could end up, and what the problem is in the first place that a young, athletic wing can’t get playing time on a team that could clearly use his skill set.
“I hope for his sake, I think they should [trade him],” Green said. “And when they talk about they’re prioritizing getting expiring contracts, my first thought that came to mind was like, go to Miami, go back and get Andrew Wiggins. Go get Norman Powell. I’m sure Miami would like a Jonathan Kuminga. And they could either keep him, or use him for a Ja Morant type of trade.”
The Warriors traded Wiggins to Miami last year around this time for Jimmy Butler. He has a player option next year, while Powell’s contract expires at the end of this season.
Wiggins makes about $8 million more than Kuminga, while Powell makes just $2 million fewer. A deal is possible for one of them, but Powell has been so good that it’s extremely unlikely that Miami would give him up instead of trying to sign him to an extension.
Pierce said that even though Kuminga clearly has talent, he’d be worried about trading for him, because clearly something else is going on.
“Talent can get you so far, but if you can’t pick up on the plays, or understand what coaching is, or practice habits — I done seen guys come and go. On the outside looking in, like Danny said, he’s unbelievably talented, so why isn’t he playing? It has to be something in between the ears that’s not clicking for him,” he suggested.
Pierce said that today’s NBA isn’t like it was when he played. Back then, he said, teams ran actual plays. Now everything is just pick-and-roll and iso ball, so if Kuminga is still having trouble processing those comparatively simple concepts, it’s a real issue, and he thinks it might stop other teams from rolling the dice on him.
“Think about Golden State and the culture there, that’s a great culture,” he said. “Why hasn’t it worked there? So if it’s not working there, and they need young talent to play right now! I’m not sure if he gets traded. There’s too many red flags.”
As it stands, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr seems completely unwilling to play Kuminga, so the team is paying him to just sit on the bench. Though he does have potential, his value can’t be that high since he hasn’t been able to show his talents for a month.
Still, it would be better to get something, anything, that could help the team in its playoff push, rather than keep a guy that isn’t going to play.
There are teams with reported interest in Kuminga. The Kings tried to trade for him this summer. Green mentioned the Heat. The Lakers could also make sense, as could the Mavericks, Pelicans and Nets. We’ll find out in the next three weeks if one of them makes an offer the Warriors can’t refuse.
