Warriors and Kuminga remain apart as player option holds up deal

Jonathan Kuminga is prepared to judge the $8 cardinal qualifying connection unless Golden State sweetens its proposals, his cause Aaron Turner told ESPN. “There’s a batch of upside,” Turner said connected “The Hoop Collective.” “He wants to prime wherever helium wants to go. So the QO is existent for sure.”

The Warriors person offered 3 structures: a three-year, $75.2 cardinal woody with a squad enactment successful Year 3 (guaranteeing $48.3 cardinal implicit the archetypal 2 seasons); a two-year, $45 cardinal woody with a squad enactment successful Year 2; and a three-year, $54 cardinal pact with nary options. Kuminga, 22, has declined each, asking the squad to person the nine enactment to a subordinate option. The Warriors person refused to see a subordinate enactment and declined nationalist remark connected talks.

Leverage, risk, and a ticking clock

Turner framed the inquire arsenic aligned with the franchise’s contiguous goals. “If [the Warriors] privation to triumph now… you springiness him the subordinate option,” helium said, adding that it mightiness ding commercialized worth but would halfway “the present and now,” helping Stephen Curry. Training campy is little than 2 weeks away, and the Warriors stay the lone NBA squad without a free-agent signing; they person 9 players nether contract. League anticipation is that veterans Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton, and Gary Payton II would travel erstwhile Kuminga’s concern is settled, though the gridlock has stretched 3 months.

Taking the qualifying connection would forfeit much than $40 cardinal successful guaranteed wealth implicit the adjacent 2 seasons yet assistance Kuminga unrestricted escaped bureau adjacent summertime and an inherent no-trade clause this season. “If JK wants to instrumentality it, it does person upside,” Turner said. He noted determination whitethorn beryllium “six teams with headdress space” for a apical helping nether 35.

External involvement has been real, with the Kings (three years, $63–$66 million) and Suns (four years, $80–$88 million) exploring sign-and-trades that person not moved Golden State. GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. said successful June the sides were successful a “good spot,” portion proprietor Joe Lacob met Kuminga successful Miami successful August. Turner signaled flexibility—keeping a squad enactment if the yearly fig rises toward $30 million, oregon accepting existent figures if a subordinate enactment is added—otherwise the qualifying connection looms.