Now over two weeks since the start of free agency, the Golden State Warriors are still looking to resolve a complicated situation surrounding young forward Jonathan Kuminga.
But whichever side of the equation you sit -- whether it's hoping Kuminga is or isn't on the team entering next season -- all Warrior fans have to accept that any decision is going to come with an uncomfortable level of risk.
The Warriors will be taking an uncomfortable risk with Jonathan Kuminga
Given the difficult nature surrounding a sign-and-trade right now, along with the horror market for all restricted free agents currently, there's a growing likelihood that Golden State and Kuminga will have to reunite on a new contract.
Doing so could cause concern for the Warriors as they look to build another championship-contending squad around the veteran trio of Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green. The evidence to date suggests Kuminga is not a fit with that trio, with the hope of that changing limited by the fact the spacing among he, Butler and Green is unlikely to get considerably better.
If things don't improve, Golden State could be left with a disgruntled young player on a much more significant contract than what he's been on previously -- hardly a recipe for success in an extremely tough Western Conference.
However, the other path could open up an even more grim scenario for the Warriors to face -- one where they give up a future star to a rival team at a low price. Kuminga wants to become a star in the league, and it's hard to argue with that aspiration when you look at his numbers when given considerable opportunity.
In the six games where Kuminga played at least 30 minutes in his most recent injury-riddled season, he averaged 25.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists on 49.1% shooting from the floor and 34.6% from 3-point range.
In the 20 games in the previous year where he played at least 30 minutes, Kuminga averaged in excess of 21 points, nearly six rebounds and nearly three assists with an over 60% true shooting percentage.
We can argue whether heavy Kuminga minutes actually leads to winning, but it's also a fact that he held a positive plus-minus in the last two years in games where's seen at least 30 minutes. Even the pessimists can't ignore these numbers and the fact the former seventh overall pick still holds star-level potential.
It's why the Warriors are still holding Kuminga at high value in sign-and-trade scenarios, rather than letting him go with little compensation in return. It's a fine line they're trying to walk which is why this has dragged on, with either path filled with risk that could come back to bite them.