The Golden State Warriors committed a lot of money to Jordan Poole. They knew Stephen Curry’s run as one of the NBA’s best would eventually come to an end, so they needed to get younger.
However, with the team still having a championship-caliber core, Steve Kerr hasn’t given some of the young pieces a lot of run. He cannot wait for them or allow them to develop if he wants to win another ring.
That lack of playing time and evident frustration made some think that they could look to part ways with Jonathan Kuminga. However, Anthony Slater of The Athletic doesn’t see that happening now, especially amid the Draymond Green contract saga.
Warriors Aren’t Shopping Jonathan Kuminga
“One of the exploratory conversations that surfaced, via ESPN, was a trade-up scenario involving Kuminga,” reported Slater. “From my understanding, that was an inbound call from a team in the lottery that has registered regular interest in Kuminga dating back a year. Multiple team sources have been adamant that the Warriors aren’t shopping Kuminga around.”
“Kuminga’s future opportunity (and place in the pecking order) is at least partially tied to Draymond Green,” he continued. “If the Green situation were to go sideways in the next couple of weeks, if he were to walk away from the Warriors for a more expensive offer on the open market, Kuminga would suddenly step into a massive role. He might start at power forward and would find himself in various lineup combinations with better spacing.”
So, even if Green is still heavily expected to be back with the team despite declining his player option, it seems like the Warriors can’t afford to move on from their young forward just in case something crazy happens.
