OG Anunoby keeps exposing Warriors' costly Jonathan Kuminga gamble

If you thought the Golden State Warriors couldn't look worse for how they handled the Jonathan Kuminga saga, OG Anunoby swoops in. His block on De'Aaron Fox, followed by his offensive rebound on a missed Jalen Brunson three-pointer, and game-winning tip-in with 1.2 seconds left to play helped seal the Knicks' historic 29-point comeback win over the Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

To think that Anunoby could've spent the past few years with the Warriors. They tried to trade for him before the 2023 February deadline, but Masai Ujiri, who was still with the Raptors, set a high asking price for OG. As C.J. Holmes reported while still with The San Francisco Chronicle, Toronto wanted Kuminga, other unnamed players, and draft picks.

Less than a year later, New York sent RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and a 2024 second-round pick to Toronto for Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, and Malachi Flynn. The Knicks didn't have to give up multiple picks, and not even a first-rounder, but they did have to part with two key young players. Losing RJ and IQ was hard for some fans to accept at the time, but look at how it's paid off.

If only the Warriors had been willing to do the same with Kuminga and whatever else the Raptors wanted.

Warriors could've used Jonathan Kuminga to get OG Anunoby

Golden State held onto Kuminga for way too long, hoping to use him in a trade for a big-name player like Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Warriors re-signed him last summer to a two-year deal in restricted free agency, still anticipating something like that would happen. Instead, it was part of a deal to acquire Kristaps Porziņģis, who played only 15 regular-season games.

When healthy, Porziņġis can be an elite two-way player, but as he's gotten older, he's dealt with more setbacks. You can't rely on him.

Anunoby also has a concerning injury history, but not as extensive as KP's. He missed two games earlier in the playoffs with a minor hamstring strain, and you can argue he would've played in Game 4 of the Knicks' series against the Sixers if needed, but New York was up 3-0 at that point. He enjoyed the extra rest, and it paid off.

OG is averaging 20.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game in 34.6 minutes across 16 games in the playoffs, shooting 57.8% from the field and 50.6% from three. His 33 points in the Knicks' win on Wednesday were a playoff career high, as were the seven three-pointers (out of nine) he hit.

Knowing that he could've been in San Francisco if Golden State had paid up, as the front office should've, makes watching him excel on basketball's biggest stage sting. And if New York does win it all for the first time since 1973, and Anunoby wins NBA Finals MVP, it will be another reminder.

It is easy to look back and clearly see how you could've handled a situation better. If the Warriors knew then what they do now about Anunoby, he'd be in Golden State. Even then, OG was an in-demand player who would've been the exact kind of upgrade they were looking for in a Kuminga trade. If only.

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