The Golden State Warriors have to be thinking right about now that they wish they had sent Jonathan Kuminga to Sacramento over the summer in a sign-and-trade. Sam Amick of The Athletic reported on Friday that the two teams discussed a trade last week, but that the 2030 protected first-round pick the Kings offered during the offseason is "no longer in play" (subscription required).
Considering that it's been over a month since Kuminga played (and not because of an injury), it's not hard to understand why his value is lower than it was last summer. The Warriors don't have leverage, but once again, they have no one to point fingers at but themselves.
But wait, it gets worse. Amick added that if a trade doesn't materialize that meets Golden State's needs, the team "insists" that they'll hold onto him past the deadline. Kuminga was supposed to be their top trade chip, which says a lot, and the Warriors need to find a way to upgrade the roster before the deadline to put themselves in a better position to contend for a title.
If you thought that this couldn't turn into an even bigger mess than it already is (or was), you thought wrong.
Kings no longer willing to offer Warriors a first-round pick for Kuminga
Amick did say that Golden State and Sacramento are "expected to circle back soon" on trade talks, but that the Warriors "have shown no interest" in the Kings' veterans. A third team may need to be included to get a deal done, but there is no guarantee that talks will make it that far.
The front office seems to be acting like keeping Kuminga is an option if it doesn't get what it wants, when the time for taking that stance flew out of the window a while ago. Unless Golden State gets absurdly lucky, it won't get much of anything of value in return for a player who is racking up DNPs. Not even Sacramento is willing to overpay.
Kuminga will officially become eligible to be traded on Jan. 15, and the initial belief after the Warriors re-signed him was that a deal would happen before the Feb. 5 deadline. Now, there is uncertainty about whether a trade will materialize. If the forward had it his way, he'd already be out the door, but it's looking like he could hang around in the Bay for even longer than he wanted.