75 million reasons aren’t enough to finally end the Warriors’ Kuminga saga. Similar to what they got with Moses Moody last season, the Dubs are amping up more team-friendly options. As the very obvious problem still stands, Jonathan Kuminga wants a Jonathan Kuminga-friendly option. If the latest update from Shams Charania is to be believed, the Warriors have a new counter-offer, $75.2 million for three years and a team option at the end. There’s one aspect in this trifecta Kuminga hates.
As Zach Lowe so bluntly calls this the most contentious free agent negotiations in his memory, the Warriors are hard-capped at the second apron. They can’t offer Kuminga more than $22.5 million for the first year of his contract without the option of keeping him for longer. Their offer pays Kuminga big this season but not the best longer term contract for him.
Kuminga wants to protect his player option and the opportunity to earn more in the future. Lowe rounded up the difference between the $22 million and the qualifying offer to about $13 million, a figure that will be the focus of this stalemate.
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“Kuminga’s, we’re not taking it with a team option. Warriors, we’re not giving you a player option. Whether it’s year one or year two, you’re not getting it. And so, we’re stuck in this sort of leverage duel,” says Lowe. “And the leverage duel for the Warriors is, ‘Hey, Jonathan Kuminga, we’re offering you, let’s ballpark, $22 million this year. Your qualifying offer, if you dare to take it, is 8 million. You’re going to lose $13 million of guaranteed money. We don’t think you’re going to be able to make that up on your next deal.’”
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As per Lowe, Kuminga would figuratively light $13 million on fire to protect his unrestricted free agency. On the other hand, the 22-year-old forward is in ideal position for any team in the rebuild phase this upcoming season with a more player-friendly cap environment.
On the flip side, Lowe warns the Dubs might be shooting themselves in the foot if they don’t give in to Kuminga. “Kuminga’s leverage is like, ‘you want me to take the qualifying offer ’cause it’s $13 million hit for me. It’s a disaster for you because if I’m on a one-year, eight-million-dollar deal, you’re not gonna get much for me in a trade and then I’m walking and you know I’m walking and you can’t afford to turn me the seventh pick in the draft.’”
That’s only one of the potential draft ‘disasters’ the Dubs might be setting themselves up for. Because the situation has a lot of potential to backfire on the team.
The Warriors are stuck in a cycle they created
The long and short of it is Jonathan Kuminga wants the player option, the Warriors want the team option. The money is not the focus. It’s both their futures where Kuminga could be the first option on a different roster and the Dubs would have more draft and trade options through Kuminga.
The latest development in this situation reports that the Warriors just turned down the Phoenix Suns’ proposal for Royce O’Neale in exchange for Kuminga. O’Neale has a base salary of $10 million which would have given the Dubs more cap room. But any sign and trade on Kuminga before training camp would not give the team the ROI they want.
Veterans, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler have reportedly privately reached out to Kuminga to reassure him amid this stalemate. With no end in sight, it might be worrying the rest of the team too.
Many analysts have already accurately explained the front office’s indecision. Lowe even namedrops Moses Moody to describe Kuminga’s leverage.
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Moody was a first round pick in 2021 but not developed enough for a massive extension at the end of three years. The Dubs gave him the three-year, $37.5 million extension last offseason while he was recovering from a hand injury. It worked out for the team and Moody too had a breakout streak since the Jimmy Butler trade.
Since then most teams and even the Warriors want to replicate this deal with rookie contract extensions. With deals like this, the Warriors cement their reputation as one of the best front offices in the NBA. The Kuminga conundrum doesn’t hurt it. But yeah, trying to replicate the Moody deal with Kuminga is not a strategy they can work out.