Even as all signs point to Jonathan Kuminga departing from the Golden State Warriors in the 2025 offseason, a new report suggests that the differences between the two sides are not “irreconcilable” and can be rectified.
According to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, Kuminga enters restricted free agency with aspirations to be an All-Star player, whether it’s in Golden State or elsewhere. The Warriors are unlikely to let Kuminga depart with some return in a sign-and-trade. Or else, they’re open to re-signing him and trading him down the road, per Slater.
“Kuminga, league sources said, still has visions of becoming an All-Star, not fitting into an ever-moving mid-tier rotation role,” Slater wrote. “He wants to be a featured player in an NBA offense and chase the 20-point-and-beyond dreams he’s spent his life chasing and the last week of his fourth season tasting.”
Slater added that the Warriors believe the highly publicized differences between head coach Steve Kerr and Kuminga can be worked out.
“There isn’t an irreconcilable player-and-coach or player-and-organization personality clash, league sources said. This is all about finding the contract and opportunity Kuminga craves.”
Jonathan Kuminga Not A Good Fit?
Kerr raised some eyebrows with comments about Kuminga after the Warriors crashed out of the 2025 NBA playoffs. The Congolese forward received 4 DNPs throughout the postseason and also sat out the team’s regular-season finale and the play-in game.
The Warriors coach said that Kuminga, a slasher who thrives with the ball in his hands, doesn’t fit next to Curry, Jimmy Butler III and Draymond Green. Since Butler and Green are also non-shooters, Kerr found it hard to play Kuminga in certain lineups.
“It’s a tricky one because Jonathan obviously is gifted and wants to play a bigger role and wants to play more,” he told Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard. “And for me, I’ve been asked to win. And right now, he’s not a guy who I can say I’m going to play 38 minutes with the roster that we have—Steph and Jimmy and Draymond—and put the puzzle together that way and expect to win.
“I think right now he is a ball-dominant player, 92nd percentile in usage rate this year in the NBA,” Kerr continued. “That’s really high. On a team with Steph and Jimmy, I mean, honestly, Steph’s gonna have the ball, Jimmy’s gonna have the ball, you know? And so the fit is tricky, there’s no question.”
A Valuable Sign-and-Trade Piece
One of the reasons for Golden State’s unwillingness to let Kuminga walk as a restricted free agent is so they can use him as a trade piece, per multiple insiders.
Among the players linked to the Warriors are Celtics stars Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White, and Nets wing Cam Johnson.
Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz argued that White would be an ideal backcourt partner for Stephen Curry due to his ability to defend and shoot. The likelihood of the Warriors landing White could depend on the Celtics’ interest in Kuminga.
“The asking price for White may be more than the Warriors want to pay, although he’s the ideal backcourt mate for Curry to play next to and makes a good defense even better,” Swartz wrote.
According to The Athletic, the Warriors believe the ideal solution would be to find a sign-and-trade scenario for Kuminga rather than letting him walk for nothing.
“The cleanest path is finding a sign-and-trade scenario that delivers the Warriors veterans who fit the unique Steve Kerr system built around Curry, Green and now Butler — three unique and proven winners,” wrote Anthony Slater.
