As the Golden State Warriors and restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga remain at a contractual impasse with training camp just days away, it remains the most likely possibility that the saga will not find its conclusion until the last possible second: when Kuminga's qualifying offer expires on October 1.
Yet, according to NBA Insider Jake Fischer, the lone recourse Kuminga has, which involves taking his qualifying offer and entering unrestricted free agency next offseason, would cause irreparable damage to the relationship between the two parties, and, although it is already fraught as a result of these tenuous negotiations, this move from Kuminga could solidify the end of his time with the organization.
Although it is already likely that Kuminga will be traded given his questionable fit with the team's starters, he will need to play well this season in order to prove his value to teams around the league, and him flouting Golden State in this manner could harm his opportunities.
Jonathan Kuminga taking the qualifying offer would kill any credence he has left with Golden State
Throughout the offseason, Kuminga and his representation have maintained his $7.9 million qualifying offer as their ultimate trump card since it would ultimately leave the Warriors with no recourse to retrieve value for their most valuable trade asset.
Yet, according to Fischer, "The relationship, I think, would essentialy be done [if Kuminga] were to accept the qualifying offer... It would have to be such a magical year of him buying in and the team making a deep playoff run and him getting all the touches and the opportunities and the stats..."
While, in many ways, Kuminga has made clear that he wants out of Golden State given the lack of opportunities he feels that Steve Kerr and the team's coaching staff have granted him thus far, he also has made it apparent that he desires to be treated as the cornerstone of a franchise.
For Kuminga, it is less about the money than it is being treated like what he feels his value and his worth necessitates, and, if he were to take the qualifying offer, he would be hard-pressed to earn back the trust of the organization and the coaching staff in order to earn a bona-fide rotational role this season.
While Kerr will play the players that give the team their best chance to win no matter what, if Kuminga is not bought into the team (and why would he be on a qualifying offer other than to prove his own value?), it is difficult to imagine that Kuminga, as a score-first and ball-needy player, will be a manageable fit for even the team's bench unit under Kerr's scheme.
On the other hand, if Kuminga signs an offer for a short-term, tradeable contract and comes back ready to prove himself, there is a conceivable outcome where his athletic skill-set becomes vital to the team and he finally earns the trust he has sought throughout his career.