NBA Rumors: An untimely and unfortunate injury to a potential trade deadline candidate may make life a little easier for the Golden State Warriors.
As the Golden State Warriors continue to fight through some mid-season struggles, there was a belief that the team was going to make another substantial move (after already acquiring Dennis Schroder from the Brooklyn Nets) ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline. However, that perception may have changed after an untimely and unfortunate injury to one of their premier NBA Trade Deadline candidates.
After suffering an ankle injury over the weekend, a timeline has finally been revealed for Jonathan Kuminga. According to reports, Kuminga is slated to miss three weeks with the injury. That means he's likely to miss most of the month of January, setting up his return right before the NBA Trade Deadline.
Jonathan Kuminga is unlikely to be moved at the NBA Trade Deadline
In many ways, this injury to Kuminga probably takes him off the trade market and will force Golden State's hand on his future. For better or worse, the Warriors will likely be forced to keep Kuminga through the trade deadline.
Even though there was probably less of a chance that the Warriors would trade Kuminga with the way he's played of late, if there was even a small shot that he was going to be moved ahead of the deadline, that ship may have sailed. A trade that could keep him out until the deadline almost automatically forces the Warriors to keep him. That's not to say that a team would be willing to take a gamble on Kuminga because of an ankle injury, but it would be that much tougher of a sell.
But it may not be all bad for the Warriors. As mentioned, Kuminga has begun to hit his stride of late and is coming off a month of December in which he averaged 21 points and six rebounds on 46 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent shooting from 3-point range. If he can be close to that player for the remainder of the season, there's reason to believe he could be a bigger asset to the Warriors than perhaps many realize. Plus, keeping him on the roster for the remainder of the season will give Golden State more time to make a decision on his future.
In the final year of his contract, Kuminga is set to hit restricted free agency after this year. As the two sides failed to agree to a contract extension last summer, it appears there's still some selling Kuminga must do with his play. Considering that the Warriors weren't going to be able to swap Kuminga for a star player anyway, it's probably best for both sides that he gets to play out the remainder of his deal (before restricted free agency) in Golden State.