If push comes to shove, the Golden State Warriors might just have a trade partner for their restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga.
Multiple reports point to Kuminga as a fallback option for the Miami Heat in case they miss out on Kevin Durant.
Hoopshype’s Michael Scotto reported on June 16 that the Heat could acquire the restricted free agent via sign-and-trade as their backup option.
“The Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat are two teams to monitor as potential sign-and-trade candidates for Kuminga, league sources told HoopsHype. With that in mind, the Warriors have also not ruled out the possibility of retaining Kuminga, sources said,” Scotto wrote.
NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer followed up on that.
“Maybe Miami, for example, would make a sign-and-trade run at Kuminga in the event that the Heat don’t win the trade race to acquire the league’s No. 8 all-time leading scorer. Sources say Miami has registered a level of interest in Kuminga in previous transaction cycles,” Stein and Fischer wrote on “The Stein Line” Substack newsletter.
The Heat’s focus remains on bringing a bona fide star after they lost Jimmy Butler, ironically to the Warriors, at the trade deadline.
“Miami has prioritized pursuits of Giannis Antetokounmpo (if he became available this summer) and [Kevin] Durant (whom they’re actively trying to acquire) on their wish list ahead of Kuminga, who’s viewed as a fallback option to the two superstars,” Scotto wrote.
But with Antetokounmpo increasingly likely to stay in Milwaukee and with the Suns preferring high-impact players from other Durant bidders, a Kuminga to Miami is a possibility.
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Kuminga, the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NBA draft, is “looking for an expanded and consistent role moving forward,” Scotto noted.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr often compared the 22-year-old Kuminga to a younger version of Butler, an athletic wing who attacks the paint and gets to the free throw line. Their issue as a non-shooter made Kerr reluctant to play them together since they acquired the former Heat star.
Kuminga showed what he can do when given the opportunity during the last four games of their second-round loss in the playoffs. The 22-year-old forward averaged 24.3 points on 55.4% overall shooting and 38.9% from the 3-point line in what could be his final games in a Golden State uniform.
Kuminga fits the timeline of the Heat’s young core of Bam Adebayo (27), Tyler Herro (25), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (24), Nikola Jovic (22) and Kel’el Ware (21). He can grow with them.
The Heat could send back Andrew Wiggins, who never found his footing in Miami, to the Warriors for Kuminga and a salary filler.
Jonathan Kuminga Looking for Expanded Role
GettyJonathan Kuminga with Steve Kerr
With Kuminga entering a pivotal offseason, he’s blocked out the outside noise as he awaits what’s next in his young career.
The 22-year-old Warriors forward has limited who can comment on his Instagram account as he posted several photos of himself working out.
Kuminga is “looking for an expanded and consistent role moving forward,” Scotto noted. Kerr has made himself clear he can’t do that with the current makeup of the team and their win-now window.
“I’ve been asked to win,” Kerr told The San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami on “The TK Show” on Wednesday, May 21. “And right now, he’s not a guy who I can say, I’m going to play 38 minutes with the roster we have, Steph [Curry], Jimmy [Butler], and Draymond [Green], and put the puzzle together that way and expect to win.”
In his final four games of the season and perhaps with Golden State if he’s traded, Kuminga averaged 24.3 points on 55.4% overall shooting and 38.9% from the 3-point line.
