Given the CBA complications in potential sign-and-trade scenarios, there remains a strong chance that the Golden State Warriors will re-sign Jonathan Kuminga and bring back the young forward for his fifth year with the franchise.
That doesn't mean that the Warriors and Kuminga won't explore various avenues in the coming weeks, with one team clearly standing out as the 22-year-old's next team if or when he was to depart the Bay Area.
The Chicago Bulls continue to be strongly linked to Jonathan Kuminga
The Brooklyn Nets initially appeared as a strong Kuminga suitor given their stature as the only team with meaningful cap space this offseason, but there's been no considerable suggestion that they'll use their financial flexibility on restricted free agents.
Instead, it's the Chicago Bulls that continue to be linked strongly with a move for the former seventh overall pick, with Jake Fischer of The Stein Line the latest to mention the 6x NBA champions as a potential home for Kuminga.
"Sources say that Chicago has as an ongoing interest in the 22-year-old forward. This tracks with past interest that the Bulls have shown in Kuminga in previous trade discussions with Golden State over the past two seasons involving players such as Alex Caruso, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević," Fischer wrote.
Given the Bulls are going through their own restricted free agency situation with young point guard Josh Giddey -- who is expected to garner around $30 million per year -- it's impossible to see them being able to create room to sign Kuminga outright.
This gives Golden State leverage in potential sign-and-trade discussions, and should presumably mean that Chicago will have to stump up something of real value to pry Kuminga out of Joe Lacob's hands.
Vucevic has long been linked as a prominent trade candidate in a sign-and-trade, but the Warriors shouldn't be flipping a 22-year-old for a veteran center who will start next season at 35-years-old. Fortunately, latest reporting on the Warriors Plus Minus podcast suggests that the franchise's interest in Vucevic is a little overblown.
Still, the Bulls reported interest and the thought of a Kuminga-Vucevic swap will scare Warriors fans until which time this situation is resolved. Coby White may be a more intriguing and impactful piece for Golden State to target in a sign-and-trade with Chicago, but there's no concrete evidence on just how the 25-year-old guard is viewed by Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the front office.
The Bulls do have a flexible roster of mid-tier contracts, meaning there's wide-ranging possibilities that the two teams could explore in the next fortnight.