Report: Warriors Close Door on Suns Trade Target

A new development in the Jonathan Kuminga-Golden State Warriors saga has risen, and it's not looking good for the Phoenix Suns and their reported interest in the young forward.

Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard reported that, although Kuminga and the franchise have been working towards an inevitable split, it is likely now more than ever that he will not be traded this summer:

"The chances of a sign-and-trade deal this summer to another team, though, have never been zero, mostly because it has always seemed to be Kuminga's preferred result. And also the preferred result, if the Warriors could get an acceptable trade package in return, of several important people in the organization.

"But after more than a month of fruitless and brief negotiations with Kuminga and a few other teams, the options seem to be narrowing, at least as far as the Warriors are concerned and probably for Kuminga's camp, too.

"The word I got when I checked in with a Warriors source on Sunday: Kuminga won't be traded this summer. He'll be back on the Warriors' roster to start the season. And it'll either come when he signs the Warriors' offer or accepts the $7.9 million one-year qualifying offer.

"Now, of course, we all can read some or most of this as Warriors positioning in lieu of making a final push for a more favorable sign-and-trade agreement. The Warriors have definitely had some discussions with other teams about Kuminga. And once you start having discussions, you can always finish one of them, no matter what your public stance happens to be at the time.

"But several sources have indicated that the Warriors have been unenthusiastic about the general idea of a Kuminga sign-and-trade from the outset. The broad context is that Joe Lacob remains a fan of Kuminga's and is determined to either keep the 22-year-old on the roster or get real value in return. And he's willing to wait it out."

If a contract was agreed upon, however, it's not likely that the Suns even had the best offer for the young forward.

Senior NBA writer for ESPN and Andscape Marc Spears revealed an offer the Suns threw at the Warriors in discussions to facilitate a sign-and-trade.

In Spears' trade, the Warriors send Kuminga to the Valley in exchange for Royce O'Neale, Nick Richards and second-round picks.

A lot can change by the time Kuminga actually agrees to a contract and eventually becomes available on the trade market. But until then, Phoenix can hold out hope that Kuminga may be available to them in the future.

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