The three-month long stalemate between the Golden State Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga has finally come to an end, with the young forward returning to the franchise on a two-year, $48.5 million contract.
The deal, as first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania on Tuesday, will come with a second year team option which will allow the Warriors and Kuminga to re-negotiate a new deal next summer if both sides see fit.
The Warriors have been rewarded for their patience in Jonathan Kuminga's free agency
Of course, there remains a big question mark on whether Kuminga will even remain with the Warriors beyond the mid-season trade deadline. The 22-year-old will be trade eligible by January 15, giving the franchise months to re-evaluate his fit alongside the veteran trio of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green.
According to ESPN's Anthony Slater, Golden State held firm in their unwillingness to deliver Kuminga with a player option which his agent, Aaron Turner, had so publicly pushed for in a media tour earlier in the month.
The one-year, $7.9 million qualifying offer was always Kuminga's biggest leverage in contract discussions, but the Warriors have been proven right in believing he wouldn't ultimately turn down the opportunity for more guaranteed money.
Golden State have been rewarded for their patience, albeit Kuminga and his camp made them stretch all the way until the final hours before the qualifying offer deadline. It made for an awkward media day without Kuminga on Monday, and even head coach Steve Kerr was reluctant to answer questions on the former seventh overall pick just hours before the deal was agreed to on Tuesday.
It's worth noting that while Kuminga hasn't gone down the qualifying offer route, he has turned down more guaranteed money to try and retain some control over his short-term future. Instead of taking the three-year deal with a team option on the final season, he now takes this deal which guarantees him access to unrestricted free agency in 2027, unless he negotiates a new deal with the Warriors or another incumbent team before then.
All eyes will now squarely turn to Kuminga's on-court play, his general vibe around the franchise and his media interviews after such a long free agency process. The Warriors needed this outcome to ensure they have a major level of improvement in their team, whether that's through Kuminga's own development or by trading him mid-season. While it took a long time to get here, they've now achieved exactly that.