The Golden State Warriors may have executed a Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade during the offseason had the Sacramento Kings offered anything of reasonable value, yet that wasn't forthcoming which left the young forward to eventually re-sign with the franchise.
Fast-forward to now and the Warriors face an all too familiar problem - do the Kings have anything of value to offer not only the Warriors, but perhaps too the Brooklyn Nets as part of a massive Michael Porter Jr. trade?
Warriors face familiar problem with Jonathan Kuminga-Kings trade
NBA insider Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported on Thursday that the Warriors have discussed a Porter Jr. trade, but that they face an obstacle in that the Nets have little interest in Kuminga as part of the deal.
That means Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the front office will have to get creative in some sort of three or four-team trade, sending Kuminga elsewhere and subsequently getting different assets to the Nets in exchange for Porter.
"Now is there a three-team scenario out there in which Kuminga would land with that third team and Brooklyn comes away with trade elements it prefers? Good question. We know Golden State is prepared to move Kuminga in multi-team structures if that's what it takes," Fischer wrote.
With Sam Amick of The Athletic reporting earlier in the week that the Kings still have interest in Kuminga, they quickly come to mind as a third team to help facilitate a trade that lands Porter in the Bay.
But what exactly does Sacramento have to pass onto Brooklyn? They're looking to move on from veterans like Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Malik Monk, all of whom seemingly make little sense to a rebuilding Nets team.
Sabonis and LaVine realistically make too much to be involved, while it's not like Brooklyn could rehabilitate DeRozan or Monk's value in a way they've been able to with Porter who had been stuck as the third or fourth wheel on a championship-contending team.
This would come down to the draft capital. Perhaps the Nets would be willing to take on DeRozan or Monk if they're compensated with picks, but then again why would the Kings give up too much in the way of picks when they should be entering a rebuild point themselves? Why also would they give up legitimate draft assets for a player in Kuminga who has been out of Golden State's rotation in nine of the past 10 games?
This is where it gets difficult orchestrating Kuminga as part of a Porter trade, with the 6'10" forward quickly becoming the ideal trade target for the Warriors given they've got little interest in giving up Draymond Green or Jimmy Butler for a $50+ million player like Anthony Davis.