Restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga is in no rush to sign the latest contract offers from the Golden State Warriors, he told ESPN’s Shams Charania after a Thursday morning workout in Miami, and Kuminga’s stalemate with the Warriors has the potential to drag significantly deeper into the offseason as he continues to explore other opportunities.
General manager Mike Dunleavy and the Warriors’ front office showed an extra level of motivation this week in conversations with Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner, attempting to deliver what they believe is a fair-market offer to bring back Kuminga for a fifth season, despite the rocky four-year partnership that preceded it.
But Kuminga hasn’t found anything they presented appealing, he said, so the drawn-out negotiations will remain motionless, likely to force the Warriors’ other offseason business to remain on pause. They are the only NBA team not to sign or trade for a player yet this summer.
The Warriors and Kuminga didn’t swap contract numbers in the lead up to free agency. So, Turner has spent much of July searching for sign-and-trade opportunities, getting the most tangible bites from the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings, league sources said.
Both suitors remain on the fringe of these talks, attempting to engage the Warriors on various packages but delivering nothing that has moved the needle. The Warriors don’t want to add what they view as bad salary, would like a promising young player and have been steadfast in their request for a first-round pick in any Kuminga sign-and-trade talks, league sources said. Phoenix doesn’t even have a first-round pick available to trade.
This has been an ice-cold market for restricted free agents because of the lack of cap space around the league. The Warriors anticipated this and believe they’ve offered Kuminga the highest starting salary that is currently on the table for him and were optimistic he might take their most recent pitch.
But Kuminga didn’t. His side will continue to scour the league for sign-and-trade opportunities in hopes something eventually pops. They also have the qualifying offer as an option.
Kuminga has a standing one-year, $7.9 million offer that the Warriors can no longer rescind. He has until Oct. 1 to accept it. If he goes that route, Kuminga would be willingly giving up a chunk of immediate money but would return on an expiring deal with an inherent no-trade clause, giving him the most level of long-term career control he’s ever had. It’s something his side is legitimately considering, sources said.
The Warriors, meanwhile, have been careful not to wrap up any other official personnel business until the Kuminga situation is solved, leaving them as much financial and roster flexibility as possible considering the unpredictable nature of the situation.
But they have plotted out some clear plans. The Warriors are in search of a veteran stretch shooter at the center position and identified Al Horford as their top target from the outset of free agency. Horford is said to still be mulling retirement, but the Warriors are believed to be the strong favorite to land him once the dust settles.
The Warriors also have mutual interest in De’Anthony Melton and Seth Curry as bench options, sources said. Melton made quite the impression in his six games with the Warriors last season before tearing his ACL. They like him as a backcourt fit next to Steph Curry and have identified Seth Curry, Steph’s brother, as a needed bench shooter with an obvious family tie.
But everything all ties back to Kuminga, the big-ticket item of the summer for the Warriors. Beyond the contract demands, Kuminga is in search of a more guaranteed, consistent starting role and featured opportunity, sources said. That’s something both the Suns and Kings have pitched.
Kuminga would be a significant part of the Warriors’ rotation to open next season, and they’ll need his supplementary scoring on nights that either Steph Curry, 37, or Jimmy Butler, 35, rest.
That’s something head coach Steve Kerr has voiced to Kuminga in recent weeks. Kerr has been one of the leading voices trying to patch this together, sources said.
But Kuminga no longer wants to be a secondary option or a fallback plan, fearing a minimization in important moments. He scored 18, 30, 23 and 26 points in the final four playoff games against the Minnesota Timberwolves after Steph Curry went down. But he was also entirely out of the rotation in the first round against the Houston Rockets, a painful memory that partly paints his current mindset. So Kuminga will remain on the summer search for a potential fresh start.
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