Will Warriors trade Jonathan Kuminga to win now?
Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga.
The Warriors are in quite a pickle entering the 2024-25 season. Typically, when a franchise with title aspirations fails to make the playoffs, it blows up the roster or makes a trade or two to upgrade personnel.
The former can’t be done without the Warriors trading Stephen Curry — a no-no considering his Tim Duncan- and Dirk Nowitzki-esque aspirations to retire with the team he made his legend with.
The latter is difficult to pull off without Golden State trading Andrew Wiggins or Draymond Green, neither of whom has much trade value for obvious reasons. Wiggins has regressed significantly as a player and Green’s antics are too much trouble for a franchise to take on.
Then there’s free agent Klay Thompson, who reportedly has a bag waiting for him in Orlando — money that Golden State is reluctant to offer due to its mounting luxury tax bill.
That leaves Jonathan Kuminga, the only real trade asset besides Curry.
If the Warriors were to sacrifice Kuminga for a proven star such as Donovan Mitchell, they might get marginally better in the 2024-25 season. But they’d be back in the same situation in a few years when Curry and Co. grow older. Even worse, they’d be forced to watch Kuminga blossom elsewhere.
Will the Warriors ship away their prized asset to try and win now? ESPN insider Ramona Shelburne expects the franchise to exercise patience.
“Not at all,” Shelburne told 95.7 FM’s The Game on Wednesday. “I think he’s pretty much — look, it’s gonna get complicated because of his extension talks and how much money they have…but I think they’ll do everything they can to keep him. I mean, I don’t think they want to even talk about him [in trades].”
That Kuminga, 21, isn’t on the timeline of the aging Warriors is a problem rearing its ugly head. As they try to maximize 36-year-old Curry’s limited window, they’re in a Catch-22 situation.
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