The Golden State Warriors had the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, a year after the team selected James Wiseman with the No. 2 pick. They were in a unique position, having two young lottery picks in back-to-back seasons while in win-now mode with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. They wanted Josh Giddey, but he went off the board to the Thunder the pick before, so the Warriors selected Jonathan Kuminga.
In retrospect, the Wiseman and Kuminga picks were mistakes, with Golden State ending the former's time with the organization over two years ago when he was traded to Detroit. Kuminga is still around, but his situation is growing uglier by the day.
Everyone knows the story by now — the 22-year-old restricted free agent turned down the Warriors' two-year, $45 million offer that contained a team option in the second season (and didn't have a no-trade clause).
Golden State turned down a three-year, $82 million deal that Kuminga's agent presented. A sign-and-trade could happen, but the Warriors want an unprotected first-round pick (and don't want to lose Buddy Hield or Moses Moody). Kuminga is considering accepting his $7.9 million qualifying offer.
If only there were a way for the organization to go back in time and undo its 2021 pick (and 2020, too, but that's another story).
Jonathan Kuminga pick continues to look worse for the Warriors
Let's take a quick look at the top players who were drafted in the first round after Kuminga: Franz Wagner (No. 8 to the Magic), Alperen Sengun (No. 16 to the Thunder, traded to the Rockets), Trey Murphy (No. 17 to the Grizzlies, traded to the Pelicans), Jalen Johnson (No. 20 to the Hawks), and Quentin Grimes (No. 25 to the Clippers, traded to the Knicks).
Any one of those players would've been a better addition in Golden State than Kuminga. Imagine having Sengun as the Warriors' center. He'd solve a lot of the team's current issues on his own.
It's easy to look back on the 2021 draftees and pick out the players that the Warriors should've selected, right? Hindsight is 20/20.
The thing is that the Kuminga pick never made sense. His fit has always been wonky, especially after the Jimmy Butler trade. Playing him and Butler together didn't yield positive results, especially not when he, Butler, and Draymond played together. Who doesn't love three non-shooters?!
Golden State set a high price for Kuminga in a sign-and-trade, which, again, doesn't make sense given it doesn't value him in that way. He ended last season out of the rotation until Steph got hurt. The Warriors want to continue to control Kuminga's future, but he's tired of being relegated to the bench. None of this is to say he's the perfect player because he certainly isn't. He's far from it.
At this point, it seems like Golden State will have more luck with inventing a time machine to go back to 2021 than ending the Kuminga saga on a good note.