After a preseason in which he averaged the second-most points in the league and threatened to break out, it's been a much more subdued period for Golden State Warriors' forward Jonathan Kuminga than many expected.
The former lottery pick has certainly had his moments through the first 16 games of the season, but there's still been a general lack of consistency with Kuminga still prone to ill-advised turnovers, fouls and shot selection.
One NBA executive believes the Golden State Warriors could be nearing a 'breaking point' with third-year forward Jonathan Kuminga.
After a 2023 playoff series where he was out of Steve Kerr's rotation, there was plenty of speculation regarding Kuminga's future. That seemingly dissipated later in the offseason and through the start of the regular season, with the 21-year-old re-establishing himself as an important bench player.
But with the Warriors struggling at a 7-9 record and Kuminga still comfortably the team's brightest young asset, trade speculation could re-emerge fairly quickly if the franchise can't find a way to turn it around.
That's the opinion of an anonymous NBA executive who, in talking to Heavy Sports' Sean Deveney, believes Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the front office may change their perspective on the 2021 seventh overall pick.
""There is going to be a breaking point. And I think they’re getting near that point where they have to say, we need to move him get help now. It has not happened yet. But give it a month. Everybody’s got their eye on that.”"NBA executive
Kuminga is averaging a career-high 11.6 points per game, yet is shooting just 43.4% from the floor and 18.2% from three-point range. Despite the expected jump, he's actually averaging less minutes than he did during last regular season.
The youngster is making $6.01 million this season, with the Warriors having exercised his $7.6 million option for 2024-25. In order to find a significant upgrade, it's likely Kuminga would be aggregated with a larger salary -- either Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson or Chris Paul -- in any trade that goes down.
Golden State have already moved young players James Wiseman and Jordan Poole for more win-now options this year -- will Kuminga be a third before February's mid-season trade deadline?