Potential Nets Target Facing 'Brutal' Reality With Current Team

There are two high-upside restricted free agents the Brooklyn Nets have been linked to for quite some time: Chicago's Josh Giddey and Golden State's Jonathan Kuminga. While Giddey's executive vice president, Artūras Karnišovas, raved about the 22-year-old's future with the Bulls, Kuminga's tenure with the Warriors isn't as certain. Thus, the Nets may be primed to strike.

"The puzzle has to fit. We found a really good formula when [Kuminga] was injured and we got Jimmy [Butler], I think we went 18-2 or something right away. So we found lineup combinations that have clicked, and we're winning and we have to stick with that. It's brutal for [Kuminga], it really is," Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said via 95.7 The Game's Mark Willard and Dan Dibley.

Despite their addition of Butler bolstering an already-talented Warriors unit, Kuminga still averaged 15.3 points per game (the second-highest mark of his career) in 47 appearances. The latter was the least amount of games Kuminga had appeared in since turning pro back in 2021.

"He's a young player, he wants to play and he's absolutely talented enough to play. He still may be a part of the equation in this series and maybe the next series after that. So we just have to keep plugging away and keep moving forward and he's doing a good job of that, and I definitely feel for him," Kerr continued.

With how Kuminga's situation has unraveled, it seems highly unlikley he'll be returning to the Bay Area this summer. He was predicted to land with Brooklyn in Eric Pincus' Bleacher Report projections on March 27—alongside Giddey—but Kuminga now appears to be a more realistic option.

He's still just 22 years old, has extremely versatile two-way ability and may not command a massive contract. Given Kerr's comments, Brooklyn or any other interested team likely won't have to throw big money at Kuminga in hopes of scaring the Warriors off, because it appears they don't have any interest in keeping him anyways.

Now, a strong postseason run—assuming Kuminga sees the floor—could help heal the relationship, but as of now, it may be too far gone.