The Phoenix Suns have made the most aggressive push to land Golden State Warriors‘ restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga.
But the lack of draft assets has kept the Suns, under the leadership of new GM Brian Gregory, from acquiring another young talent to surround their new 1-2 punch Devin Booker and Jalen Green.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania and Anthony Slater, the Suns “made the most lucrative push via sign-and-trade.”
And Kuminga “prefers” the external offers he received more than the Warriors’ two-year, $45 million deal on the table.
“The most significant negotiations have been with the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns, getting proposals up to four years approaching $90 million total, including a player option for the final season, sources said. Phoenix has made the most lucrative push via sign-and-trade,” Charania and Slater reported.
The Suns’ proposal was nearly $70 million more guaranteed than the Warriors’ offer, Charania and Slater added.
But more than the control over his future which the player option will afford him, Kuminga “believes they signify a fresh start, a larger guaranteed role, a promised starting position and a greater level of respect.”
Getty The Phoenix Suns are pushing hard to land Jonathan Kuminga of the Golden State Warriors after losing Kevin Durant.
That outweighs the richer base-year compensation ($22.5 million per year) offer from the Warriors, whom Kuminga believes to have held him back.
Kuminga showed plenty of promise when he averaged 24.3 points on 55.4% shooting and 38.9% from the 3-point line during the final four games of their season while Stephen Curry was out with a hamstring injury.
But Golden State coach Steve Kerr said following their second-round exit that Kuminga is a player that he’s going to play 38 minutes with the roster they have.
Suns Don’t Have What the Warriors Want
While the Suns pushed hard, the Warriors found nothing appealing in the Suns’ or the Kings’ offers to persuade them to part ways with the former No. 7 pick.
“In recent days, they have begun signaling a plan to cut off sign-and-trade conversations entirely, using their restricted free agency leverage to the fullest, sources said,” Charani and Slater wrote.
The Warriors are looking for value in exchange for Kuminga.
They made that clear when they rejected a trade offer from the Sacramento Kings, which Slater previously reported for The Athletic, on July 3, before his move to ESPN.
“They’ve drawn inbound calls in recent days, most notably from the Sacramento Kings, who floated an offer of Devin Carter, Dario Šarić and two second-round picks, league sources said. The Warriors have so far balked at what they felt was a buy-low attempt, league sources said,” Slater wrote.
Slater added that the Warriors are looking for “a promising young player, plus a first-round pick” in a sign-and-trade scenario for the 22-year-old athletic forward.
The Suns do not have either — they do not control their first-round picks until 2031 — unless they can manufacture a first-round pick and get another team involved that has a young player or players, which could interest the Warriors.
Complicated Sign-and-Trade Deal
Another thing that complicates a pathway for the Suns to acquire Kuminga is a quirk in the Collective Bargaining Agreement rules.
In a sign-and-trade scenario, only 50% of Kuminga’s outgoing salary is accounted for matching purposes because of the base-year rule in the CBA. But his full salary counts as the incoming salary for whichever team acquires him.
For example, if Kuminga signs for the four-year, $90 million deal, the base year salary should be $22.5 million. Only half of that, around $11-12 million, is the worth of salaries the Warriors can receive, while the Suns will absorb the full $22.5 million in their cap room, which will put them back above the luxury tax threshold.
While it’s not impossible, it is not a straightforward path.
The Suns have Royce O’Neale’s $10.1 million per year as a salary ballast in a potential trade.
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