Before the negotiations hit a wall, Jonathan Kuminga was willing to help the Golden State Warriors in their roster building this offseason.
ESPN’s Shams Charania and Anthony Slater reported that Kuminga’s camp presented an acceptable deal for them to the Warriors that would help the team gain access to their $5.7 million taxpayer midlevel exception.
“His agent, Aaron Turner, presented the Warriors a few frameworks during a pair of summer league meetings in Las Vegas, including a three-year deal worth around $82 million that allowed the Warriors to stay below the second apron to use the taxpayer midlevel exception,” Charania and Slater wrote.
But the Warriors didn’t budge. Instead, they stood firm with a shorter, tradeable contract offer.
According to Charania and Slater, the Warriors’ latest offer stands at a two-year, $45 million deal with a team option on the second year and Kuminga relinquishing the inherent no-trade clause.
The former lottery pick rejected it.
Charania and Slater described the tense negotiation as a battle of “control” over Kuminga’s future.
Kuminga’s camp explored sign-and-trade scenarios with the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings. But the Warriors did not find them appealing and they are shutting down sign-and-trade talks, according to Charania and Slater.
“Their current stance is that Kuminga will be on the Warriors’ roster to begin next season — either through their two-year offer on the table or the standing $7.9 million one-year qualifying offer, whichever is Kuminga’s preferred path,” Charania and Slater wrote.
Unless the Suns or Kings up their offer, the ugly staredown contest between Kuminga and the Warriors will drag into the fall, which stalls their offseason.
Jonathan Kuminga is Betting on Himself
Kuminga has expressed “willingness” to take the qualifying offer that will give him veto power over trades and will allow him to enter unrestricted free agency after next season, according to Charania and Slater.
The 22-year-old forward posted a strong message on social media supporting the report.
“I’ll bet on myself all day,” Kuminga captioned his Instagram story post while tagging Turner.
Instagram/Jonathan KumingaJonathan Kuminga posts a powerful message on his Instagram story amid his restricted free agency.
Kuminga is confident that he’s ready for a bigger role after he finished the season strong despite his earlier CD-DNPs from coach Steve Kerr.
Under the unusual circumstances, Kuminga delivered big numbers in the Warriors’ second-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves without the injured Stephen Curry.
He averaged 24.3 points on 55.4% shooting and 38.9% from the 3-point line during the final four games, which gave him supreme confidence heading into this offseason.
Warriors, Steve Kerr ‘Stunts’ Jonathan Kuminga’s Growth
In rejecting the Warriors’ $22.5 million offer per year, Kuminga stood for himself, not wanting to cede “too much control to a franchise he believes has stunted and strung his career along for four seasons,” according to Charania and Kuminga.
The incoming fifth-year forward likes the fresh start the Suns and Kings have offered, according to Charania and Kuminga, as he views Kerr “as someone who has made it clear there is not a defined big-minute opportunity for him every night with the Warriors.”
Kerr went on record that Kuminga will not play starter minutes next season if he remains with the team following their playoff exit.
“I’ve been asked to win,” Kerr told The San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami on “The TK Show” on May 21. “And right now, he’s not a guy who I can say, I’m going to play 38 minutes with the roster we have, Steph [Curry], Jimmy [Butler] and Draymond [Green], and put the puzzle together that way and expect to win.”
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