The restricted free agency stalemate between forward Jonathan Kuminga and the Golden State Warriors is continuing to linger closer to the start of the 2025-26 season. With both sides not budging, it feels as if a sign-and-trade deal is unrealistic.
Kuminga, 22, has expressed interest in a larger role and more playing time as he’s played out restricted free agency. The reports have fueled speculation that the forward may want out of Golden State.
His plan to get a bag with another franchise hasn’t played out like he wanted, and Kuminga’s most realistic pathway has led to either signing a one-year, $7.9 million qualifying offer or a two-year, $45 million deal the Warriors offered him to stay with the team.
Kuminga’s looking for a contract similar to Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley
Reports believe that Jonathan Kuminga’s aspirations for a new deal are fueled by the contract extensions that were already given to other 2021 NBA draftees.
“‘He apparently thinks he’s at the Cade Cunningham-Scottie Barnes level, where he should get that type of contract,’ one league source said of Kuminga. ‘It’s really a quandary. I think it’s bad for the Warriors and bad for him,’” Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote in an article.
There’s a problem with Kuminga asking for a deal like his fellow 2021 draftees, that being that the forward’s production in the four years he’s played isn’t as successful as the already signed Scottie Barnes and Cade Cunningham.
With this being said, Jonathan Kuminga will most likely end up having to sign a short-term deal and return to Golden State, continuing his role as a player coming off the bench behind Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green.
