The pressure on the Golden State Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga continues to rise, with the attention now squarely on player and franchise after a huge free agency domino officially fell on Tuesday.
Josh Giddey had shared the restricted free agency headlines with Kuminga over recent months, but that's now over with the Australian point guard signing a four-year, $100 million contract with the Chicago Bulls according to ESPN's Shams Charania.
It leaves Kuminga and Philadelphia 76ers wing Quentin Grimes as the two restricted free agents left on the market, with Cam Thomas previously choosing to accept the qualifying offer with the Brooklyn Nets last week.
Warriors must meet Jonathan Kuminga in the middle
With the threat of Kuminga signing his own $7.9 million qualifying offer becoming more and more present. the Warriors must take a page out of the Bulls book in terms of negotiations -- not that Chicago should be regarded as the blueprint for roster-building in the league.
The Bulls and Giddey had been stuck in a stalemate where the former sixth overall pick wanted a four-year deal at around $30 million per year, while the franchise was only initially willing to offer $20 million annually.
It therefore makes sense that player and franchise meet in the middle. This four-year, $100 million deal gives Giddey the life-changing money he was seeking off his rookie contract, while the Bulls have now locked in a key piece to their team and a player they dealt now 2x champion Alex Caruso for last offseason.
Golden State have been rather rigid in their negotiations according to recent reports, with little movement on the two-year, $45 million offer they've presented Kuminga that comes with a second year team option.
Kuminga wants that to be a player option so as to retain control of his future, otherwise he can also achieve that by sacrificing the money and taking the qualifying offer. With about three weeks until the October 1 deadline, it's time for the Warriors and the young forward to each give a little and finally move strongly towards a resolution.
The obvious move would be to just guarantee the second year completely -- no team or player option and eliminate the thought of a no-trade clause for the 22-year-old. This compromise would give Kuminga significant money on a short-term deal that lets him re-enter free agency at just 24, while for Golden State it would avoid the qualifying offer disaster and still allow them to trade the former seventh overall pick once he becomes eligible mid-season.
At the very least the Warriors have to entice Kuminga with something different than what's currently on the table, otherwise they may have to be a little more open to sign-and-trade offers after rejecting all previous approaches so far this offseason.