Featured Columnist IVJanuary 16, 2025
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The Golden State Warriors continue to value forward Jonathan Kuminga highly with less than a month to go until the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto.
Scotto reported Thursday that Kuminga “remains a player Golden State is reluctant to part with.”
“Ideally, the Warriors want to give [Stephen] Curry and fellow franchise stalwart Draymond Green another shot at competing for a championship in the latter stages of their careers, but they won’t mortgage future assets just to make a trade,” he wrote.
Scotto reported the Warriors “inquired about potential frontcourt upgrades” and cited the Chicago Bulls’ Nikola Vučević, Utah Jazz’s John Collins, Washington Wizards’ Jonas Valančiūnas and Portland Trail Blazers’ Robert Williams III as prospective targets.
Kuminga hasn’t taken big strides on the court this year to build on the improvement he made in 2023-24. He’s averaging 16.8 points on 45.9 percent shooting along with 5.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists through 32 appearances.
Still, the 22-year-old is the best young player Golden State has and somebody who can contribute positively for the franchise when Curry and Green eventually move on.
A lot of teams in the Warriors’ position would feel a level of pressure and urgency to upgrade the supporting cast around Curry and Green and chase one more championship. That certainly seemed to be the case in the summer, when they chased both Paul George and Lauri Markkanen.
But Curry, Green and head coach Steve Kerr are all sending the same message about what the organization’s priorities should be right now. They’ve all lobbied against making a blockbuster trade that doesn’t significantly raise the Warriors’ ceiling for the sake of being active ahead of the deadline.
Acquiring Jimmy Butler, for example, probably doesn’t lift Golden State to the top of the Western Conference. And Butler aside, there isn’t another major star who looks to be realistically available right now.
Without that kind of piece on the board, it’s hard to see how the Warriors part with Kuminga between now and the deadline.
