Jimmy Butler's unfortunate ACL tear changed a lot for the Golden State Warriors, but one truth remains: Trading Jonathan Kuminga was never going to close the gap between them and NBA championship contention. That said, it was painfully obvious a relocation was needed, and even if a rich return was off the table, a solid one still could've strengthened the rotation.
And maybe it still can. Yahoo Sports' Dan Devine said on The Big Number podcast that the "neatest solution" to the Kuminga conundrum is probably routing him to the Sacramento Kings for the oft-rumored combination of Malik Monk and Keon Ellis. Granted, it's sort of a shoulder-shrug package, but as Devine noted, Monk could address the need for "somebody who can score and generate offense for other people" while Ellis would be "a clearly positive and helpful player, especially on the defensive end of the floor."
You can certainly squint and see why both sides of this hypothetical swap might sign off on the agreement. Or rather, you could have seen win-win potential here had the Warriors still held a puncher's chance at the crown. Because with Butler's injury eliminating that option, a marginal move would change nothing for Golden State.
Trading Jonathan Kuminga for Malik Monk and Keon Ellis would fill niche needs, but it's not at all a needle-mover.
Monk is the seventh-highest scorer on a brutally bad Kings club. And Ellis, a bulldog defender in the backcourt, is struggling to find consistent minutes on a squad in dire need of defense.
Without Butler, Golden State's needs are great enough that you can picture both Monk and Ellis slotting into rotational roles. What you can't do, though, is envision their arrivals in Golden State elevating this team in any notable fashion. You could down a whole bottle of optimism and you still wouldn't buy it.
So, why bother? It'd clear up the Kuminga distraction, sure, but would it solve anything else? Would Monk give Golden State anymore scoring punch and shot-creation than Brandin Podziemski is providing? Would Ellis' defense definitely buy him more floor time in a backcourt that already features stingy stoppers like De'Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II?
Maybe a little, but definitely not enough to matter. Not when the Warriors are sitting eighth in the overloaded West and teetering on the brink of a free-fall without Butler.
The problem for the Warriors is that Kuminga's muted trade market may not yield many alternatives. You can bet that both the bouncy swingman and this front office will keep searching for a deal, but this might be as good as it gets. Even while it's (painfully) obviously not good enough.