The Golden State Warriors‘ time with Stephen Curry will only continue to shorten. After missing the playoffs, trading breakout Warrior Jonathan Kuminga could help them capitalize on what’s left of Curry’s prime.
However, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne dismissed any notion of a potential Kuminga trade. She revealed the level of
“Not at all,” Shelburne said on 95.7 FM’s The Game. “I think he’s pretty much — look, it’s gonna get complicated because of his extension talks and how much money they have and but I think they’ll do everything they can to keep him. I mean, I don’t think they want to even talk about him.”
Shelburne added what assets the Warriors could offer in a trade instead of Kuminga.
“They have a pretty good set of assets,” Shelburne said. “There’s some other good young players on the team outside a Kuminga. They have draft picks, they have Wiggins, they have Gary Payton II, they have a lot of options there, they have a lot of optionality and decent contracts. And then there’s also the blue chip, which is Chris Paul. That contract is very interesting for a lot of teams for a lot of reasons. Now, the Warriors could certainly just keep him and take the savings themselves. But that’s a great trade asset for a lot of teams.”
Kuminga may stay put, but the Warriors must consider how they
Jonathan Kuminga Floated in Proposed Trade
While it appears the Warriors won’t trade Kuminga any time soon, ESPN’s Zach Lowe floated a trade that would include him. The return package would be former Warrior Kevin Durant.
“KD reunited with the Warriors,” Lowe said on his podcast “The Lowe Post” on April 29. “All the young guys, salary fillers. It’s gonna be Kuminga and all the other [young] guys you don’t want to trade. It’s Kevin Durant, so you’ll probably trade those guys.”
His guest, Bobby Marks, outlined who else would have to be included in the trade.
“It should be Wiggins as your placeholder,” Marks said. “That’s your big number, right? Then it’s gonna be a combination of Kuminga, [Brandin] Podziemski, and [Moses] Moody and whatever you have.”
The Phoenix Suns have made the playoffs both times Durant has been on the team. However, they have fallen far short of their goal of winning a title. If they decide it’s not worth keeping him, Kuminga might be the best-returning asset available to them.
Jonathan Kuminga’s Breakout Season
After flashing his potential with the Warriors over his first two seasons, Kuminga broke through in his third season. He flourished in an expanded role. As he averaged a career-high 26.3 minutes a game, Kuminga saw his numbers grow.
In 74 games, Kuminga averaged 16.1 points on nearly 53% shooting from the field. He also averaged 4.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 0.7 steals a game. All of which were career-highs for Kuminga.
At 21 years old, Kuminga has definitely shown that he can be a valuable contributor to a team aspiring to make the playoffs. The Warriors may very well not trade him because they believe they’d be better off with him on the team than without him.
