Jonathan Kuminga Stays True to Contract Extension Claim After Interaction With Warriors Owners Valkyrie’s Game

Selected 7th overall in the 2021 Draft, Jonathan Kuminga was supposed to represent a new era in the Bay Area. But, as things stand, he is a restricted free agent who is free to sign with any NBA team he wants. Of course, the Dubs have the option to match or even renounce that offer. But Kuminga will assuredly have a lot of potential suitors given his immense talent. And aware of this, he doesn’t seem to be committing to anything yet, as his confession to the media and his actions during a recent WNBA game seem to suggest a disconnect. Especially among reports of the Dubs exploring deals involving him.

Here’s the deal. Jonathan Kuminga has gone in and out of the Dubs’ squad this year. This is in spite of the Dubs’ coaching staff and players commending him for his growth. So the organization seems quite non-committal in their approach to the 22-year-old right now. And JK appears to be reciprocating their stance as revealed by his confession to the media about his future.

“I don’t know how those things go. I’ll learn more going through the summer. It don’t really matter. I’m going to let my agent handle things like that. I’ll just listen to what he’ll tell me. I just tell him to take his time. I’m going to take my time too, figure out what I’m going to do with my day because I’m bored,” said Kuminga, a day after the Dubs were bounced from the playoffs in 5 games by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

But after what a fan captured during a Golden State Valkyries game, his nonchalance is a little surprising. Jonathan was pictured sitting courtside right next to the power couple, Joe and Nicole Lacob — owners of the Golden State Warriors and Valkyries! Now it’s not clear what they talked about or whether they even attended together.

But we do know that like us, Joe likes watching Kuminga in action. In fact, cameras even capture Lacob fistpumping and celebrating a play by the young forward recently during a Dubs-Wolves game. He really is one of us. Nonetheless, we don’t think he’d want to let the 22-year-old go.

Ultimately though, there is a very real possibility that Jonathan Kuminga has played his last game for the Dubs. At least according to the reports of two senior NBA Insiders.

NBA insiders reveal the Warriors are exploring sign-and-trade packages for Jonathan Kuminga

Kuminga will likely have the $7.9 million qualifying offer extended in the offseason by the Dubs. And according to what the Athletic’s Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson have heard from league sources, the Warriors may explore some sign-and-trade scenarios.

“Both sides are expected to explore sign-and-trade scenarios, those sources said, which would open up the market and theoretically give Kuminga the contract and fresh start he’d desire while bringing the Warriors back rotation players of immediate value,” Slater and Thompson wrote in a joint report for the Athletic. They added, “The Warriors’ decision-makers believe they need more positional size across the board — center and otherwise.”

But even amid all this, Joe Lacob maintained his support for Kuminga while not revealing much pertaining to the 22-year-old’s future.  “[Jonathan] Did a pretty damn good job. He had a tough situation with the DNPs from the last series, and to bounce back from that, I give him a lot of credit. I’m a big fan of his,” said the Warriors’ owner.

(DEVELOPING STORY…)