Golden State Warriors News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Feb 23, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga (00) warms up before the game against the Charlotte Hornets at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Jonathan Kuminga’s Preferred Landing Spot Revealed: Report

Originally posted on Sacramento Kings on SI
By Eric Sperlazza | Last updated Jul 30, 2025 6:56 PM ET

The Jonathan Kuminga adventure has been… well it’s been an adventure. Kuminga was selected 7th overall by the Golden State Warriors back in 2021, but things haven’t gone exactly as planned since. It would be completely unfair to say Kuminga hasn’t been a good player; however, he’s still raw, and his skillset hasn’t been a good fit for this iteration of the Warriors.

Head coach Steve Kerr has been vocal about his feelings on Kuminga and how he helps the Warriors maximize the twilight of Stephen Curry’s career. Below is what Kerr had to say about Kuminga to Tim Kawakami at the San Francisco Standard last May.

“And for me, I’ve been asked to win. And right now, he’s not a guy who I can say I’m going to play 38 minutes with the roster that we have.”

It would be reasonable to argue that Kerr should’ve at least tried to be a little more cryptic with Kuminga heading toward restricted free agency, but it’s hard to argue his point. Kuminga is an incredible athlete and a solid finisher, but he isn’t a floor stretcher at this point in his career.

Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green are both non-shooters like Kuminga, but they’re far more impactful elsewhere, which makes it hard to find time for the latter. Given this, it makes sense that Kuminga wants to find a place where he has an easier path to minutes and a starting spot.

Enter the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns, who have both made sign-and-trade offers to the Warriors for the 22-year-old. While both teams have made concrete offers to the Warriors, ESPN’s, Marc Spears, just gave the Kings a big boost in the sweepstakes.

“He wants to go. And the Kings are offering a starting spot, power forward next to Keegan Murray, next to Sabonis.”

Marc Spears says Kuminga "wants to go" to Sacramento:

"The Kings are offering a starting spot. He's talked on a zoom call with Scott Perry, BJ Armstrong and also with Doug Christie. He's in."

He also said the Suns have offered:

Royce O'Neale
Nick Richards
4 2nd round picks pic.twitter.com/GithAY7Yte
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) July 30, 2025

From a Kings and Kuminga standpoint, this would be a pretty solid fit. Sacramento struggled a bit from deep last season, but they clearly have enough shooting to give Kuminga the best opportunity to succeed with his playstyle.

Even Domantas Sabonis, who often plays a similar offensive role to Draymond Green at times, is a capable shooter (albeit on low volume). The spacing that the Kings could create would open up lanes for Kuminga to use his athleticism and put pressure on the rim, something Sacramento could use more of going forward.

Kuminga being interested in Sacramento is exciting, but there is also a chance that this is all groundwork for the future. If Kuminga signs the qualifying offer the Warriors gave him, he will receive a no-trade clause and enter unrestricted free agency next season.

This would give any team, including the Kings, a chance to come to terms with him without giving up any assets. The Warriors would be smart to not let this happen, but it doesn’t seem like they’re very interested in any of the offers from either the Suns or the Kings. Fans probably would prefer not to wait until next season, but it might be the right play for Sacramento. Allen Stiles brought up exactly this situation on Sactown Sports 1140 this afternoon.

There is a growing belief that although the Kings are interested Jonathan Kuminga now, the negotiation with the Warriors was to build a relationship w/ him and be at the front of the line when he hits free agency. pic.twitter.com/Ghbxv4BmIr
— Allen Stiles (@The_StilesFiles) July 30, 2025

The Warriors aren’t forced to accept any of these offers, but it’s hard to believe they would be willing to lose a former lottery pick for nothing after the way the James Wiseman pick worked out for them previously.

The other issue for Golden State is that they haven’t been able to sign anyone in free agency while the Kuminga situation is still unresolved. Golden State has held out hope that Kuminga would accept a contract in the $22-23 million range; however, it sounds like Kuminga and his camp have no interest in accepting the Warriors’ latest offer.

Whether the Kings end up with Kuminga this summer, next offseason, or not at all, it’s nice to see the team use their leverage well this time around. After some questionable returns on good players like De’Aaron Fox, the Kings can’t afford to give up too much for a player they aren’t completely sure about.

In fact, I could argue they shouldn’t be overpaying for anyone right now with the way their roster is built. Kuminga would be a great addition and a move for him may even help the logjam at the off-guard spot, but Sacramento can and should be patient this time around.

This article first appeared on Sacramento Kings on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: