The Warriors want to resolve Jonathan Kuminga’s future ‘sooner than later’

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The NBA doesn’t wait around for the sake of sentimentality. 

Several trades around the league went down even as the Finals heated up. Houston reportedly acquired Kevin Durant, the Grizzlies sent Desmond Bane to Orlando, and Indiana (somehow clairvoyantly) found a way to retrieve its own 2026 first-round pick. 

And now, a day after the Thunder meekly celebrated their franchise’s first championship, teams can start negotiating with their own restricted free agents. 

Enter Jonathan Kuminga and the Warriors. 

Golden State’s offseason work has officially begun, with resolving Kuminga’s future at the top of the to-do list. As general manager Mike Dunleavy and the front office polish up their draft preparations, the team needs to figure out what’s next for Kuminga — pronto. 

“I think we’re in a good spot with it, honestly,” Dunleavy said. “We have the ability to bring him back — he’s restricted. I think it’ll be a good dialogue. I’d like to figure something out sooner than later; that’d be great. But I also acknowledge that with restricted free agency, these things can drag out a little and take some time.” 

Resolving the situation — either retaining Kuminga or dealing him via sign-and-trade — would give the Warriors clarity. Letting it linger, conversely, could complicate how they operate. 

Here are some sparknotes on Kuminga’s situation: 

The wrinkles imposed by the new collective bargaining agreement create an environment in which, from a roster construction standpoint, the path of least resistance very well could be retaining Kuminga and figuring out his long-term future later. 

But that scenario has risks, too. 

If the Warriors keep Kuminga, they have said they’d give him a long runway of opportunity early in the season. What would happen to his value if he and the team struggle? Although it could technically be easier to trade him while being unburdened by the base-year compensation rule, it could pose a similar challenge to find an interested suitor should he fail to live up to a nine-figure contract. 

There could also be general awkwardness associated with bringing Kuminga back given how his season ended. Head coach Steve Kerr benched the young wing in several of the Warriors’ biggest games of the year. When he returned to the rotation following Steph Curry’s season-ending injury, Kuminga finished with a strong series against Minnesota. In Golden State’s final three games, Kuminga notched 30, 23, and 26 points with solid efficiency and impressive defense. 

The Warriors also have no intentions of drastically changing their play style — nor should they — which may not be conducive to Kuminga’s career aspirations. 

Re-signing Kuminga would keep an undeniable talent in-house. Kuminga provides the type of downhill penetration and foul-drawing frequency Golden State can only get otherwise from Jimmy Butler. If the team finds lineups in which Kuminga and Butler can coexist, that could maximize its athleticism and switch-ability potential on defense. 

Either way, Dunleavy’s main point is relevant: the quicker the Warriors and Kuminga can sort through their options, the better for the team. 

How Kuminga’s restricted free agency plays out will clarify which types of players the Warriors need to target. It’ll dictate what level of exception they can use to pursue free agents and which apron they need to worry about. 

It’s a choose-your-own-adventure game, and Kuminga is the first card.

“I think we feel pretty comfortable with who JK is as a player and what he can do for our organization,” Dunleavy said. “It’s a main priority going into free agency.” 

Perhaps the most revealing moment of Dunleavy’s 20-minute pre-draft media availability was a happy accident. 

A reporter asked the general manager about the types of traits he’s prioritizing with the 41st pick in the NBA Draft, which begins with the first round on Wednesday followed by the second round on Thursday.

Dunleavy heard “trade” instead of trait before giving an earnest answer. 

“We’ll look at stuff,” Dunleavy said. “I think most likely when you’re in the second round, you’re probably looking at moving up or back within that round. Is there a possibility that we can move into the first round? Sure. I wouldn’t [say] it’s highly likely. But you never know on draft night.” 

The Warriors have worked out dozens of prospects, most of whom are experienced college players expected to be selected in the second round. The Warriors sent their first-round pick (No. 20) to Miami in the Butler deal, perhaps signaling they weren’t ecstatic about the talent available in the latter half of the first round. 

After the Warriors were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs, the prevailing thought from Dunleavy and Kerr was that Golden State is within shouting distance of the best of the best.  

“I don’t think we’re that far away,” Kerr said. 

Since then, the young Thunder won the title despite missing a million shots (they hit 33.8% of their 3s and only 39.9% of wide open ones) and looking tight in some big moments. Oklahoma City was the best team all year and is only improving. 

“They’ll be the defending champs next year going into the season,” Dunleavy said. “They’ll be the team we’ve got to knock off, for sure. The good news is, though, there’s been an incredible amount of parity the last six, seven years. Multiple different champions, multiple different finalists. So I don’t want to say it’s wide open, but I don’t think it’s to the point where it was in 2016-17 with this organization, where it was really, really hard to oust a team.” 

It’s true that there have been seven different champions in seven seasons — the longest stretch without a back-to-back winner in NBA history. The Thunder may not end that trend, but it’s not like there’s a golden opportunity for the Warriors to crash the party in a Western Conference that’s only loading up with more talent. 

The Rockets, who took the Warriors to seven games, added Durant without giving up Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, Amen Thompson, or Reed Sheppard. They’ll be better. 

The Mavericks — with Anthony Davis — are poised to bring presumed No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg into the fold. Memphis took a step back by trading Bane, but the Spurs are about to add the second overall pick and team up a healthy Victor Wembanyama with De’Aaron Fox.  

Golden State sure felt close to a championship this year. Had Curry stayed healthy, who knows how far the Warriors could have gone? 

But given the state of the West, stagnation could put the Warriors at risk of falling behind.