SAN FRANCISCO – After months of negotiations, restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga and the Warriors have finally agreed to a new contract.
The forward has signed a two-year $48.5 million deal with the team that drafted him, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The second year of the contract is reported to be a team option, and Kuminga remains a trade candidate.
The deal clears the way for the Warriors to also sign unrestricted free agents Al Horford and De’Anthony Melton, who have long been linked to the team but have not signed a contract until Kuminga’s salary — and the cap space left over after — was determined.
The Warriors tendered a $7.9 million qualifying offer to Kuminga on June 29, officially marking his entry into the restricted free agent market. He had until Wednesday to accept the qualifying offer, which would have rendered him an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
During a recent appearance on an ESPN podcast, Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner, said that his client desired a player option, something Kuminga ultimately gave up.
In four seasons since being the No. 7 pick in the 2021 draft, Kuminga has averaged 12.5 points and grabbed 4.6 rebounds in 258 games played.
While he was often a part of the rotation, Kuminga started in just 74 of his 211 games played during his first three years, with his minutes fluctuating. A featured role is something Kuminga has been vocal about since the season ended. He told The Athletic that he sees himself as a future All-Star.
Kuminga appeared to be in the midst of a breakout to start the 2024-25 season, averaging 16.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game over the first 31 games. His rise had Draymond Green willing to move to the bench during a December hot streak that saw Kuminga start six straight games, which seemed to be a clear sign that Kuminga’s time in the spotlight had come.
Even after moving back to the bench, Kuminga still averaged almost 30 minutes per game as the sixth man in the next eight games. But a severe right ankle injury suffered against Memphis in early January forced Kuminga to miss the next 31 games, during which time the Warriors traded for Jimmy Butler III in a blockbuster deal.
Suddenly, the opportunities that existed for the fourth-year forward no longer existed, and he struggled to find his groove next to Butler.
In 15 post-return games, Kuminga averaged just 12.2 points per game in a shade over 20 minutes a game. He was then a healthy scratch from the season finale against the Clippers, which began a run of three consecutive games without playing a minute. He received only spotty playing time during Golden State’s seven-game slugfest with Houston in the first round, but was handed the keys to the offense against Minnesota after Curry was lost for the series with a hamstring injury.
Kuminga scored 18, 30, 23 and 26 points in the final four games of the series, flashing the scoring talent and one-on-one defensive chops that had made him a tantalizing prospect, and the lack of passing vision and rebounding that have frustrated Warriors observers.