Jonathan Kuminga’s restricted free agency saga is dragging into August, and the trade market for the young Warriors forward is not producing any obvious solutions.
Multiple reports over the last few days confirm that the Lakers and Hawks, two teams most connected to Kuminga trade talks, are not close to any kind of deal. That is a problem for a Golden State front office that clearly wants to move on from the situation and cannot find a taker willing to meet their price.
The restricted free agent market has been ugly all summer. Only the Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls project to have significant cap space to make offer sheets, which limits how much leverage RFAs actually have. Teams around the league know they can wait out these situations because the market cannot bail the player out.
Kuminga is the highest-profile name still unsigned. Walker Kessler, Peyton Watson, and Tari Eason are all in similar situations. All four of them are talented young players who deserve real money. All four are stuck in a market that is not willing to pay them what they think they are worth.
Golden State has been trying to trade Kuminga rather than sign him to a long-term deal. The Warriors have concerns about how he fits with Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and the rest of the core. Kuminga is a high-usage scorer who needs the ball in his hands to be effective. That does not always work in a system built around Curry’s off-ball movement.
The Lakers were interested for a while, particularly with Los Angeles losing LeBron James to Philadelphia this summer. Adding Kuminga would give the Lakers a young, athletic wing to complement the pieces they still have. But Los Angeles has not been willing to give up the assets Golden State wants in return.
The Hawks are another logical fit. Atlanta has been rebuilding and could use a talented young forward. But the Hawks are also being smart about not paying premium prices for players who might not fit their timeline. Kuminga would help immediately, but he might not be around when Atlanta is actually ready to compete.
The problem for Kuminga personally is that time is running out to get anything real done. Training camps open in less than two months. If he is still unsigned when the season starts, his qualifying offer situation becomes even more complicated. Playing on a one-year qualifying offer means he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer, which gives him more freedom but also risks a full season of playing on limited money in a bad situation.
The Warriors are betting that Kuminga eventually has to accept a deal that works for them. That is the calculation the front office is making. Wait him out, either sign him to a team-friendly extension or trade him for whatever the market eventually offers. Either way, Golden State comes out with a better long-term situation than paying max money to a player they are not sure fits.
Kuminga’s camp is playing hardball. They believe he can be a legitimate star given the right opportunity. They also believe he is worth more than the Warriors are offering. Both sides are dug in.
Something has to give. Restricted free agency drama tends to resolve one way or another before the season starts. Someone always blinks. The question is who.
There are still a few weeks for a trade to materialize. The Bulls could still make a run at Kuminga with an offer sheet if they get bold. The Wizards, Nets, or Jazz could get involved as third teams to facilitate something. General managers around the league are always working the phones.
The most likely outcome is that Kuminga signs a shorter, mid-range deal to remain in Golden State and then hits unrestricted free agency in two years with more leverage. That is not what anyone wanted at the start of the summer, but that is where this whole mess seems to be heading.
Restricted free agency in the NBA remains broken. Kuminga is the latest player to find that out the hard way.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
