Jonathan Kuminga's agent Aaron Turner has undertaken a mass media tour in the past 48 hours, perhaps looking to change the narrative around the young forward as their free agency stalemate with the Golden State Warriors continues.
Turner has pointed to multiple different ways in which Kuminga has or is willing to sacrifice in this situation, with the camp still hoping that the Warriors will meet their demand for a player option instead of a team option on the three-year, $75 million contract that's currently on offer.
Brian Windhorst pushes back against Jonathan Kuminga's agent
Turner joined ESPN's Brian Windhorst and Anthony Slater for an interview on the Hoop Collective, providing some unique insight to current negotiations between the two parties as training camp nears.
In credit to Windhorst, he was willing to push back and offer some perspective from Golden State's position, saying the quiet part out loud rather than just allowing the narrative of the episode to be completely pushed by Turner.
“They're coming up with their offers. They're offering more years and more money. They're dealing with the second apron," Windhorst said of the Warriors. "But I do think that unless I'm wrong, you correct me if I'm wrong, they're offering more than either the Suns or the Kings have offered, not because they don't want to offer more, but because they're limited in what they can do in the sign-in trade. So they can look you in the eye and say, we're making a best offer.”
While Turner listed the sacrifices he and Kuminga are making in discussions, Windhorst rightly outlined that Golden State are coming to the table with better offers in the hope that an agreement can eventually be reached.
For weeks the situation was at a stalemate because there was no movement on a two-year, $45 million contract with a second year team option. Josh Giddey's contract agreement with the Chicago Bulls may have kickstarted the Warriors into action last week, having since added another year and $30 million onto their offer.
Windhorst told Turner that he had done his job -- that he as an agent had advocated for his player and got the franchise to increase their offer. He also said that Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the Warriors were doing their job, offering some optimism to listeners toward the end of the episode that a multi-year deal will eventually be agreed upon.
As Turner continues to push the Kuminga side of the story, it was important for a veteran ESPN insider/analyst to provide some balance and acknowledge that the Warriors have already signalled some good faith with their latest contract offer.