In shutting down sign-and-trade negotiations with the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns earlier this offseason, the Golden State Warriors were planting their feet in the ground and declaring that Jonathan Kuminga would eventually return to the franchise in free agency.
While that remains the likely outcome, a potential sign-and-trade to the Kings has suddenly re-emerged into the discussion as the October 1 qualifying offer deadline draws ever closer.
Warriors shouldn't backflip on their Jonathan Kuminga stance
Along with reporting Kuminga's desire to get to Sacramento on Tuesday, Sam Amick of The Athletic also stated the belief of some that Golden State would reconsider a trade if the Kings lifted the protections on a first-round pick that's on offer.
"If the protections were dropped completely, there are some stakeholders who believe the Warriors would likely change their stance," Amick wrote.
Changing their stance this late into the process has disaster written all over it from a Golden State perspective, yet also goes to show the threat of the qualifying offer and how that may be an even worse outcome.
Even if the Kings did drop the protections and have Malik Monk and an unprotected future first-round pick on the table, it's still a move that threatens devastation and not just because Kuminga could explode into an All-Star level player.
Firstly, the Warriors would still likely have to part ways with Moses Moody or Buddy Hield to make the contracts work given base-year compensation rules. At the very least that takes away another rotation player on a team looking to contend this season, and in the case of Moody another young player who is actually on a palatable contract.
Monk's dynamic scoring could help Golden State to some degree, but he's also a 6'3" guard that plays a position the roster is already abundant in. The Warriors have Hield and Brandin Podziemski, are likely to re-sign Gary Payton II, and have De'Anthony Melton and Seth Curry waiting in the wings as free agents. What value is Monk really going to be to them in that scenario?
The 27-year-old also has a $21.6 million player option for the 2027-28 season, meaning he could take a chunk out of the cap flexibility that (as Amick reiterated) the Warriors are desperately trying to create for the 2027 offseason. Imagine not being able to have the money to pitch to Giannis Antetokounmpo because Malik Monk just picked up his player option.
Golden State would be left hoping that the future pick conveys into a lottery selection and perhaps a future star, yet by that point the Curry era would have been over with already. They could try and trade it in a blockbuster trade over the next 12 months, but ownership's history of hoarding young players and future picks suggests that's unlikely.
Monk and an unprotected first-round pick doesn't sound disastrous on paper. There are cascading effects though that make it so, and suggests the Warriors shouldn't be considering a backflip unless the Kings come to the table with something more significant.