[Trade] Why the Warriors Could Trade for 6x NBA All-Star: Report

[Sacramento Kings On SI]

The Golden State Warriors have had an undesirable 2025 NBA offseason, being stuck in a bad situation with restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga. The two sides are in a weird spot where neither necessarily wants him to re-sign with the Warriors, but the franchise does not want to lose him for nothing. Since the Warriors are hell-bent on getting as much value out of Kuminga as possible, despite having a crumbling relationship with the 22-year-old forward, their entire offseason has been put on pause. The Warriors are still the only team in the NBA that has yet to add a player through trade or free agency this summer, which has been a huge concern as they fail to make improvements.

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[hrdboild]

I do wonder if the Kings and Warriors weren't a regional rivalry if this would have been resolved already. The protections reported for the first round pick don't seem that bad for GS. It's a lottery protected 2030 pick or they get a 2031 pick from either the Kings or the Spurs. If GS is going to hold out for an unprotected pick just because Atlanta got one from New Orleans for the draft rights to Derick Queen they're going to end up wasting their season because they have no payroll flexibility to add players and losing Kuminga for nothing.

If this ultimately goes nowhere, I hope the Kings use the first 3 months of the season making sure that DeMar, Malik, and Zach look as appealing as possible for would-be contenders looking to bolster their 2026 championship odds with a mid-season acquisition. Those guys are good enough at what they do to help some team that just needs scoring and has a short window of contention they want to take advantage of. Hmm, that seems to describe Golden State pretty well actually.

 

[Padrino]

I do wonder if the Kings and Warriors weren't a regional rivalry if this would have been resolved already. The protections reported for the first round pick don't seem that bad for GS. It's a lottery protected 2030 pick or they get a 2031 pick from either the Kings or the Spurs. If GS is going to hold out for an unprotected pick just because Atlanta got one from New Orleans for the draft rights to Derick Queen they're going to end up wasting their season because they have no payroll flexibility to add players and losing Kuminga for nothing.

If this ultimately goes nowhere, I hope the Kings use the first 3 months of the season making sure that DeMar, Malik, and Zach look as appealing as possible for would-be contenders looking to bolster their 2026 championship odds with a mid-season acquisition. Those guys are good enough at what they do to help some team that just needs scoring and has a short window of contention they want to take advantage of. Hmm, that seems to describe Golden State pretty well actually.

I think it's less about the regional rivalry and more that GS just doesn't want anything the Kings have to offer. They're unmoved by the package(s) the Kings have presented, and I imagine that would still be the case even if Perry removed protections on the first rounder. GS needs pieces that help them win now, and the Kings haven't offered them the kinds of players that help them win now, in their view. Unfortunately for the Warriors, the Kings' offer is the only viable alternative to Kuminga just signing the QO and punting on his future until UFA arrives. So we'll see if GS decides it's worth it to stall out their other free agency decisions and reserve a roster spot for a player that they don't want and who doesn't want to be there.

 

[Caccia]

The Warriors appear to be budging a bit on their contract offer to Kuminga.

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/jonathan-kuminga-warriors-reportedly-renewed-171752210.html

 

[hrdboild]

I think it's less about the regional rivalry and more that GS just doesn't want anything the Kings have to offer. They're unmoved by the package(s) the Kings have presented, and I imagine that would still be the case even if Perry removed protections on the first rounder. GS needs pieces that help them win now, and the Kings haven't offered them the kinds of players that help them win now, in their view. Unfortunately for the Warriors, the Kings' offer is the only viable alternative to Kuminga just signing the QO and punting on his future until UFA arrives. So we'll see if GS decides it's worth it to stall out their other free agency decisions and reserve a roster spot for a player that they don't want and who doesn't want to be there.

A highly-tradeable first round pick and a recent Sixth Man of the Year runner-up on a team-friendly deal seems like a pretty fair return to me. And if they make that trade now those are both pieces that they can throw into a trade-deadline package before the 2026 Playoffs. It may also be that they don't want to take that much salary back since they're trying to carve out cap space to sign Al Horford and Gary Payton Jr.

 

[Padrino]

A highly-tradeable first round pick and a recent Sixth Man of the Year runner-up on a team-friendly deal seems like a pretty fair return to me. And if they make that trade now those are both pieces that they can throw into a trade-deadline package before the 2026 Playoffs. It may also be that they don't want to take that much salary back since they're trying to carve out cap space to sign Al Horford and Gary Payton Jr.

I don't disagree. I honestly believe it's great value for Kuminga, given the position the Warriors have put themselves in. I just think they're delusional, and are operating like they're still a franchise at the peak of their powers rather than a franchise that's hemmed in by the cap and hanging on to the last scraps of glory from Steph's remaining years. For whatever reason, they're scoffing at the lifeline the Kings are offering them and risking their ability to start the season from a position of strength.

It's a mutually beneficial package, since it gives the Kings an opportunity to take the kind of swing they need to take on young talent with untapped potential, and it gives the Warriors an opportunity to extract themselves from the mess they made of their "two timelines" strategy. But if they want to risk Kuminga signing the QO and then walking for nothing in UFA, that's on them. It just means a division rival is deciding to manage their assets poorly, which isn't a terrible outcome, either.