The Golden State Warriors could be coming to regret their inability to find a suitable Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade during the offseason, with the value of the young forward diminishing as the February 5 deadline quickly approaching.
Kuminga appears to have played his last game with the Warriors after playing just 10 total minutes in the last 13 games, but it's that place out of the rotation that is also reducing the front office's bargaining power in trade discussions.
Warriors regret in re-signing Jonathan Kuminga is growing
According to ESPN's Anthony Slater on Wednesday, Kuminga's value has lessened since the summer despite what was a briefly positive period to open the regular season.
"Rival executives are seeing what we're all seeing which is a 23-year-old young wing buried on the bench as the deadline approaches," Slater said. "They're saying 'value must be going down on Jonathan Kuminga'. What was available in the summer which the Warriors didn't deem good enough to trade him, is lessening."
Latest on Jonathan Kuminga a month out to the trade deadline on NBA Today.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 7, 2026
It’s posturing season. He’s very available, but Warriors are at least saying they’d be willing to keep Kuminga into summer if nothing appealing enough materializes. pic.twitter.com/AmgbA2QT93
Slater also pointed to the Sacramento Kings as an example of Kuminga's diminishing value, reporting that the protected first-round pick the Warriors were offered in an offseason package is no longer on the table.
Based on the reported offers for Kuminga during the offseason, most notably from Sacramento and Phoenix Suns, Golden State were right in turning them down. Malik Monk wouldn't have made a difference on this team, nor a combination of Royce O'Neale and Nick Richards from the Suns.
However, these are only the deals that were reportedly available. There would have been significantly more discussions going on behind the scenes, some of which would have surely included better players than those who emerged in trade reports.
The biggest issue is there was no legitimate report on the Warriors adding draft capital to go and acquire a better player than Kuminga, or at least a similar talent who the franchise believed could have been a far better fit in Steve Kerr's system.
The salary-matching difficulties gave Golden State an excuse to some degree during the offseason, but that doesn't exist now when Kuminga's full $22.5 million salary can be sent out. It will therefore be fascinating to see whether the Warriors are willing to learn from their mistake and add significant draft capital to get a real difference-making player, because otherwise the return for Kuminga is going to end in huge disappointment for fans.