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BA free agency is upon us. Over the course of the next few days, teams will add pieces that they hope will make them championship contenders while also making decisions on players with expiring contracts. For the Golden State Warriors, the biggest storyline for them this offseason is what to do about Jonathan Kuminga. A restricted free agent, the Warriors have some leverage but if Kuminga receives a substantial offer from another team, then the Warriors need to decide if they can match it.
But from ESPN insider Tim Legler’s perspective, letting Kuminga leave would be detrimental. Even though Kuminga has been inconsistent and has fallen out of the rotation during various points of his tenure with the Warriors, Legler believes his skillset is exactly what the Warriors need.
Legler’s Comments
During an NBA Today episode on July 3, Legler spoke on the Kuminga situation and how despite everything he has gone through with the franchise, they need him a lot more than he needs them.
“I think personally, at this point, the Warriors need Jonathan Kuminga more than he needs them,” Legler said. “Where are the athletes on this team? He does represent an athletic wing. The guy does have something, from a skill standpoint and a physical standpoint, [that] they don’t have on their roster.”
But while the Warriors could benefit from keeping Kuminga, Legler also did not shy away from admitting that going to a new team could benefit him so that he can find out how good he truly is.
“I think, at some point, you need to come to the realization that it’s not going to happen for him in Golden State. And guess what? It might not happen somewhere else, either,” Legler said. “But I think, Jonathan Kuminga, to find out, I think he needs to go somewhere where he doesn’t have such cynicism looking at him all the time, waiting for the bad habits … so he can go back to the bench. They need him. They need the physical specimen that he is. He needs a fresh start somewhere else to see what this guy could actually become in this league.”
Kuminga and his fit with the Warriors
When the Warriors drafted Kuminga back in 2021, the expectation was that he could blossom into a star and be the added star alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. And while he has shown flashes of greatness, averaging 16.1 points in 2023-24 and 15.3 points this season, inconsistencies with shooting have made his playing time more unpredictable and once the Warriors acquired Jimmy Butler in February, he was left completely out of the rotation for a majority of the season.
“I understand … they wish he was a little bit more locked in defensively with his concentration; they wish he was a little bit more consistent with his rebounding effort. I get all of that,” Legler said. “The guy has played almost 6,000 minutes for the Golden State Warriors, and he’s still auditioning.”
Butler will be on the Warriors for the next two seasons while the rise of players such as Quinten Post may make it hard for Kuminga to earn more minutes next season, but if the Warriors really want him, they will find a way to use him.
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