Jonathan Kuminga Refuses Warriors Offer Without This Change

Restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga will only accept the Golden State Warriors’ latest offer on one condition — change the team option into a player option, NBA insider Jake Fischer reports.

“I think that Jonathan Kuminga’s side would take this one-plus-one situation with Golden State, this two-year, $45 million offer that’s been on the table if he were to get a player option in year two,” Fischer said on Bleacher Report’s “NBA Insider Notebook” livestreamed on Aug. 7. “But I was told yesterday (Aug. 6) from various sources that Golden State is going to be holding firm that the second year is going to be a team option. And that’s kind of where the staring contest is at.”

Kuminga’s camp has presented a three-year offer worth $82 million in one of their several meetings in Las Vegas during the NBA Summer League, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania and Anthony Slater. But the Warriors didn’t budge.

The Warriors firmly believe they have the best offer on the table, a deal that is designed to be traded once the six-month moratorium ends before the February trade deadline. However, they also asked Kuminga to relinquish the inherent no-trade clause of the one-plus-one deal, which he firmly rejected.

Kuminga does not want to cede “too much control to a franchise he believes has stunted and strung his career along for four seasons,” according to Charania and Slater.

‘Grand Compromise’ Proposed to End Warriors-Kuminga Stalemate

Getty Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr shakes hands with Jonathan Kuminga.

Kuminga appears determined to make the situation untenable for the Warriors, who have held off their projected offseason signings of Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II.

Before the volatile situation could rear its ugly head, Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard offered what he called a “grand compromise” to keep Kuminga at The Bay until the next trade deadline.

When it happens, it likely should involve the Warriors upping the guarantee in the second year of their offer — from $0 to perhaps $14 million, so the total guarantee would be above $30 million over two years. (And by giving him a second-year guarantee, the Warriors would wipe out Kuminga’s right to block a trade next season.)

This would give the Warriors more credence when they argue that they’ve got the highest offer on the table and would likely still be a very tradeable contract in February or next July. This also would give Kuminga more security than what the Warriors are offering right now and significantly more than taking the qualifying offer.

Suns, Kings Offer More Money But…

The offers from the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings have more guaranteed money and playing time in a starting role.

The Suns offered the most guaranteed money in a four-year deal with a player option in the final year. It was $70 million more than the Warriors’ current offer, Charania and Slater noted.

On the other hand, the Kings offered a three-year, $63 million deal with a player option on the final year, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic.

Kuminga prefers those offers to the Warriors’, but neither the Suns nor the Kings has an appealing trade package.

Until a team offers an unprotected first-round pick, Kuminga will not get the freedom he is seeking from the Warriors.