The biggest question of the offseason.
The offseason is officially underway for the Golden State Warriors. They won’t be able to officially make free agency moves until July, but you can be sure that Mike Dunleavy Jr., Steve Kerr, Joe Lacob, and the rest of the gang are already hard at work behind the scenes, prepping for a crucial offseason.
And one name sits at the center of it: Jonathan Kuminga.
After failing to reach an extension before October’s deadline, Kuminga enters free agency for the first time in his young NBA career. And he does it in an interesting spot, having fallen out of the team’s rotation, but been one of their best players in the final games of their postseason run.
While Kuminga is no longer under contract, he is a restricted free agent. That means that the Warriors have the right to match any contract offer sheet that he signs with another team.
The details can play out in a million ways, but there are really only three options for the Warriors and Kuminga this summer: they re-sign him, they let him walk, or they work out a sign-and-trade to help recoup some assets while letting him go to a new team.
So, which do you think it will be? I’d argue that smart money is on a sign-and-trade, since there’s been a lot of smoke. But I’ll instead predict that the Warriors re-sign Kuminga to a contract along the same lines as the one they signed Jordan Poole to (probably a little bit less). We know Lacob loves Kuminga, and I’m guessing they don’t find a sign-and-trade deal that moves the needle enough to justify punting on JK’s talent. And ultimately, they can always include him in a trade at the deadline if the first few months of the season don’t go well.