After a long restricted free agency process that dragged on until October last year, Jonathan Kuminga eventually re-signed with the Golden State Warriors and ultimately took a gamble that's now coming back to brutally haunt the young forward less than 12 months later.
Kuminga took the two-year, $48.5 million team option on the table from the Warriors, taking a risk on himself by rejecting a three-year, $75 million offer with a final year team option, and a three-year, $54 million fully guaranteed deal according to ESPN's Shams Charania.
Jonathan Kuminga's gamble is now looking foolish less than a year on
It can only be presumed that Kuminga took the shorter deal to try and get to unrestricted free agency quicker, allowing him to take control of his destiny after years of being held down by Golden State according to many. He would have also assumed that he'd play well enough to make more than the guaranteed longer term offers on the table once he did hit free agency again.
The first presumption has played out, with Kuminga re-entering free agency less than a year after his restricted situation. Unfortunately for he and his management, his play wasn't good enough to warrant instant big offers in a marketplace where cap space is once again scarce.
There are teams interested in the former Warrior, but the most notable one -- the Los Angeles Lakers -- only offered Kuminga $20 million over two years. They, and another interested party in the Cleveland Cavaliers, would need to execute a sign-and-trade with the Atlanta Hawks in order for him to get anywhere near a $20 million average salary.
The Lakers are becoming less and less of an option after signing Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle in the past week, with genuine pessimism over the potential of Kuminga landing in Los Angeles according to reports on Monday from Charania and The Athletic's Dan Woike.
Jonathan Kuminga should have taken the money when it was there
Had Kuminga taken one of the other two offers on the table from Golden State, he would already have between $18-25 million locked in for next season depending on which one he chose.
Now there's a possibility the former seventh overall pick may need to take significantly less and try again next year, potentially taking a one-year prove it deal with the Lakers or elsewhere in an attempt to build his value.
Kuminga gambled on himself and is losing at this stage. His desire to depart the Warriors was understadandable, but it could wind up costing him millions of dollars as his free agency rolls on once again.
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