Warriors Reluctant to Trade Jonathan Kuminga to West Rival Due to Key Reason: Report

Instead, Golden State has had to deal with the ongoing situation regarding restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga which has cost them multiple free agent targets.

For Kuminga, he has reportedly turned down Golden State’s contract offer and while other teams have offered him a contract in free agency, they have failed to meet the Warriors’ high asking price to acquire him in a sign-and-trade.

Among the teams that have shown interest in Kuminga this offseason is the Sacramento Kings, though they have also failed to meet Golden State’s asking price for him.

Sacramento reportedly offered the Warriors a package of Malik Monk and a protected first-round pick, which Golden State declined.

Warriors Reluctant to Trade Kuminga to Kings

While the Warriors did decline this trade due to it not meeting their asking price, The Athletic’s Sam Amick recently reported a potential other reason why Golden State may be reluctant to trade Kuminga to the Kings.

“There is a sense from some people involved that there's a real reluctance not only to finally ‘quit him,’ if you will, but also to see him go up the road to another Northern California NBA team. It’s run by a guy in Vivek Ranadivé, who used to be with the Warriors. And what if Kuminga blows up and becomes a total star? From a personal ownership dynamic level, there are some folks that feel like that could be playing a small part. Again, that's not really relevant, because these other things are the real obstacles. But I mean, Joe (Lacob)—like a lot of owners—is very involved, too,” Amick wrote.

This is an interesting report by Amick and one that does make some sense as the Warriors do not want to trade one of their young players just to see him blossom into a star with one of their Western Conference rivals.

Despite this, it is clear that Kuminga’s future in Golden State is nearing an end after he fell out of Steve Kerr’s rotation last season and with them unwilling to commit to him long-term this summer.

Because of this, the Warriors could look to move their young forward this season and if the Kings offer them the best trade package for him, it may be in their best interest to accept the deal and not worry about if Kuminga becomes a star in Sacramento later down the road.