After winning the NBA Championship last season, the Golden State Warriors’ season ended in failure this year, eliminated in the western conference semifinals by the re-tooled Los Angeles Lakers.
Stephen Curry put up some impressive numbers, but the rest of the team was fairly inconsistent for the majority of the series. Golden State’s youngsters, in particular, struggled mightily. Jordan Poole failed to churn out solid performances, and Jonathan Kuminga barely played in the series against LA. In turn, there are some questions regarding the team’s future.
Jonathan Kuminga’s status with the Golden State Warriors is in jeopardy after recent comments surfaced that he wants a larger role or to move on to a new team.
"“The Warriors and Kuminga’s representatives are expected to discuss his future this offseason, league sources say,” reported Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “Golden State will need to decide whether Kuminga will receive a full-time role moving forward, and, if not, league sources say the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft will want to be somewhere he can play more.”"
Now, there’s a chance that Golden State simply chooses to give him more minutes, but who knows how they will respond to his reported demands? The 20-year-old forward will be 21 at the beginning of next season and entering his third year in the league. He’s shown some real promise, especially on the defensive end, but trading him could also be a viable pathway for the Warriors to explore.
Unfortunately, Kuminga will only be making a little over $6 million next season, meaning the Warriors may not be able to get equal value in return for him. That being said, they could choose to combine his value with a contract like Jordan Poole’s or Andrew Wiggins’ in an attempt to make significant changes to the roster.
With all that in mind, here are two potential Kuminga trades for the Warriors to consider this offseason.