Believe it or not, but this week is the last full week of July. Next Friday, the calendar will flip to August. There is no guarantee that by then, the Golden State Warriors will have reached an end to the Jonathan Kuminga saga. Restricted free agency is painfully slow this year.
The Warriors are the only team in the NBA not to make a signing or a trade outside of the draft because first, they need a Kuminga resolution. If he leaves, they want it to be in a sign-and-trade so they get something in return (Spoiler alert: It won't be what they were initially hoping for). If he stays, there is no guarantee that he'll receive the consistent playing time he wants.
Golden State is stuck in a limbo. The front office has watched as other teams in the conference strengthened their rosters, from Houston adding Kevin Durant to Denver adding much-needed depth. Guess who doesn't have depth?
The Warriors.
Al Horford and De'Anthony Melton have been linked to Golden State, but the Warriors are on hold until something happens with Kuminga. Even if they do sign Horford and Melton, how much of a difference will that really make? That isn't to say Horford and Melton don't have value, but again, those two moves don't stack up against what the rest of the West has done.
Kuminga's situation has been a massive roadblock for the Warriors
At this point, it seems that a sign-and-trade is what Golden State is hoping for (the same goes for Kuminga). It won't be for the package they initially wanted. Those days are long gone. The Warriors could still get something of value in return, though. There are teams interested in Kuminga, like the Suns (subscription required).
On Thursday, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reported that Phoenix and Sacramento made offers to Golden State in the past week, but the Warriors weren't interested in what they offered. Kuminga isn't interested in accepting Golden State's offers, either. It sounds like there won't be a resolution anytime soon.
This is a situation that Golden State could've avoided by trading Kuminga after the two sides didn't agree to an extension last fall, but here we are. The question that every Warriors fan wants to know is how much longer this will go on.
Right now, it feels like it could last forever.