With the October 1 deadline on Jonathan Kuminga's qualifying offer drawing near, the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings have reportedly revived sign-and-trade talks involving the young forward according to Sam Amick of The Athletic on Wednesday.
The issue for the Warriors is that they don't have much interest in Malik Monk and a lottery protected first-round pick, particularly when they'd have to give up Buddy Hield or Moses Moody in the process to make the salary matching work.
So, how can the Warriors turn this around where they're actually getting an upgrade and they're the ones giving up draft capital? Well, they wouldn't be doing their due diligence without inquiring about one young Kings player.
Warriors can still inquire about Keegan Murray
Keegan Murray undoubtedly remains the best possible player Golden State could target, but getting Sacramento to relinquish him in a deal is going to be nigh on impossible as Jason Timpf of Hoops Tonight recently outlined
“I’ve heard the Warriors want Keegan Murray in the deal. Why would the Kings do that? Keegan’s a much better player than Jonathan Kuminga. That’s a different class of asset that you would be bringing back in a deal like that," Timpf said.
The Warriors do have their future picks though and potentially very valuable ones given they're veteran roster. Let's look at a deal that would have to cause debate among both sides, with the Utah Jazz included in order to make the finances work.
Warriors Receive: Keegan Murray, 2029 second-round pick (via Jazz - top 55 protected)
Kings Receive: Jonathan Kuminga, 2026 and 2032 first-round picks (via Warriors)
Jazz Receive: Dario Saric, 2027 second-round pick (via Kings)
Why would the Warriors do it?
While Kuminga's restricted free agency has stalled everything for the Warriors to this point, they are certainly very much in for the now with a veteran trio of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green.
Put simply, Murray makes them a far more formidable looking team for this season and next -- assuming they're willing to pay $25+ million per year on an extension. The 25-year-old's 3-and-D skillset is going to be a far cleaner fit than with Kuminga, potentially allowing for a dangerous two-way starting lineup featuring Curry, Butler, Murray, Green and Al Horford.
Would the Warriors do it knowing that giving up a prized unprotected 2032 pick could take them out of any potential running for Giannis Antetokounmpo, or for their other recently reported target in Trey Murphy III?
While they hold out hope for one of those two players, Golden State are just wasting whatever Curry, Butler and Green have left. Murray might not be as good as Antetokounmpo or Murphy, but if the Warriors can swing this deal then he might still prove the key difference-maker they need to elevate into true championship contention.
Why would the Kings do it?
If the Kings can ultimately trade for Kuminga while retaining Murray, there will be both on-court and financial issues they will be faced with in the next 12 months.
Firstly, Murray isn't really being utilized to his full capacity in Sacramento which is evidenced in his reduction in output from year two to year three. The Kings already have score-first/high-usage players in Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk and Dennis Schroder -- now you want to add Kuminga to that mix? Where does Murray get his opportunity?
The former fourth overall pick will want more than Kuminga does annually on an extension, meaning the Kings will have to make some deals elsewhere in order to accomodate it without flying over the restrictive tax aprons.
However, trading one or multiple of LaVine, DeRozan and Monk won't exactly be easy when they've got multiple years on contracts that aren't overly team-friendly. This is Sacramento's chance to ensure they don't necessarily have to dump salary to make a Murray extension fit, while also gaining potentially valuable assets from a close rival.
The Kings could frame it as believing Kuminga can reach or exceed Murray's level anyway, while an unprotected first-round pick in 2032 may be a golden chip given it will be well beyond the years of Curry, Butler and Green.