As the Golden State Warriors have attempted to find a resolution to their contractual stand-off with restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga this offseason, the two sides have come to an impasse at the organization's standing offer: a two-year, $45 million deal with a player option.
While there are numerous reasons why Kuminga's camp is hesitant to agree to such a deal, Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard has pointed out why his reluctance to relinquish a no-trade clause by taking a two year deal is particularly ridiculous given his desire to find a new home.
Throughout the offseason, Kuminga has maintained his desire to be valued as the cornerstone of a franchise, and, if it is clear that is not going to happen with Golden State, why would he not want to be traded?
Jonathan Kuminga needs to accept his fate as a trade piece in order to move on with his career
Entering free agency, Kuminga's camp expected him to earn somewhere in the range of $30 million annually on his next deal. However, a cold free agent market and a general lack of cap space across the league has led that value to settle somewhere around $20 million: a figure that the Warriors can easily match.
However, Kuminga's hesitancy to sign Golden State's two-year offer lies primarily in his strong misgivings towards coming back to the organization simply as a pawn for a trade: a fact that would be cemented by the player option and the length of the potential deal.
Yet, as Kawakami pointed out on the Warriors Plus Minus podcast, this stance makes no sense given his desire to find an organization that will give him a longer runway to reach his potential: "On the Kuminga side, [they're saying], 'Well, we give them a two-year deal, even if it's not guaranteed, we'll lose our no-trade rights'... Wait a minute, I thought he wanted to be traded? Why would that be the problem? What team could there possibly be that he wouldn't want to be traded [to]?"
As Kuminga has stated in the past, he believes that he has the potential to become a multi-time All-Star in the NBA, and that, by implication, Golden State has held him back from reaching his potential. As opposing teams show interest in a trade for Kuminga, they will certainly be aware of this fact, and it would be hard to imagine a team bringing him in without the necessary runway to grant him.
Even teams such as the Charlotte Hornets and the Utah Jazz, which players are often hesitant to be traded to, would be absolutely ideal destinations for Kuminga, as he would get virtually unlimited touches in the frontcourt and be given free reign to cut to the basket and score the ball.
While it is understandable that Kuminga feels shunned and even disrespected by the Warriors, he must do what is best for his career in allowing himself to be traded as quickly and as easily as possible, making his camp's current stance increasingly untenable.