After the two sides failed to reach a contract extension agreement before the season, there was an overwhelming expectation that the Golden State Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga would eventually find a middle ground at some point during the offseason. Kuminga, slated to hit the restricted free agent market, struggled to find a comfort level with the Warriors this season, but still managed to play an effective role for the team.
However, after the addition of Jimmy Butler and the struggles that the Warriors have had in trying to find a consistent role for Kuminga, that original foregone conclusion may not be so after all. In fact, in the words of Warriors reporter Tim Kawakami, he can't envision a scenario in which the Warriors or Kuminga find a middle ground toward an extension this offseason. The way this offseason scenario is crafted in the eyes of Kawakami, the two sides may be best parting ways.
That said, how that actually happens could be complicated. The Warriors aren't likely to let Kuminga walk for nothing and would want to sign-and-trade him elsewhere. That could complicate Kuminga's free agency plans as he may not want to try the song and dance of trying to fit in with the Warriors again next season.
The career arc of Jonathan Kuminga
Through the first four years of his career, Kuminga has had an interesting arc. During his first two seasons with the Warriors, he struggled to truly break through as a real difference-maker for the team. Then, during his third season, Kuminga began to show some real signs of star potential. Heading into this fourth season with the team, the hope was that he would make his star leap, emerge as a key part of the foundation moving forward, and earn his long-term extension.
To be quite honest, that's not exactly how things ended up playing out for Kuminga and the Warriors this season. Instead of carving out a significant role for the Warriors, Kuminga's minutes have been all over the place this year, leading toward a DNP-CD in the Warriors' last couple of games.
As the Warriors prepare for their first-round NBA Playoff series against the Houston Rockets, it will be interesting to see what type of role Kuminga has. If he continues to pile up the DNP-CDs, the writing may be on the wall. If this is the way this narrative unravels, you can't help but wonder if the Warriors made a huge miscalculation at the NBA Trade Deadline. Even if there's a chance the Warriors could end up losing Kuminga for nothing this summer, it will make their decision not to explore his trade market more at the deadline look that much more foolish.
Kuminga is still only 22 years old and probably still has the best years of his career in front of him. At this point, it would be surprising, with what's recently been reported, if Kuminga's days with Golden State aren't numbered.