Has Jonathan Kuminga become a player of the past for the Golden State Warriors? Since his return from a 31-game absence (owing to ankle injury), Kuminga was made to average just around 18 minutes in the last three games he played—a pattern to note over the last 14 games. He has scarcely been used in Golden State’s closing lineups. Given the availability of Jimmy Butler, it is obvious why Kuminga might be getting underutilized. In light of this, the best course of action for the Warriors would be to simply part ways with the player. Unfortunately, with new information coming to light, it is apparent that the team can’t do it so easily.

Notably, the 22-year-old’s 4-year, $24.855 million contract will expire by the end of this season, leaving him to be a restricted free agent. Not only any restricted free agent, but one with full Bird rights, standing in line for a raise that exceeds 20 percent of his current price point ($7.6 million). Due to this, Kuminga and the Warriors will be subjected to the Base Year Compensation provision. According to this rule, any prospective sign-and-trade deal presented to Kuminga will have only his 2025-26 salary, or 50 percent of his first-year salary in a new deal, whichever is greater. For the team that acquires Kuminga, the front office will have to account for 100 percent of his first-year salary in the new contract.

To simplify this, imagine if the Warriors sign-and-trade Kuminga at the $30 million price point. If his next team takes in $30 million of new money, for Golden State’s purposes, it would be just sending out $15 million, aka half of Kuminga’s new salary. This would affect the acquisition process for the Warriors, since they cannot acquire another $30 million player as part of this theoretical sign-and-trade, due to the insufficient cap space. Therefore, what would be the point of trading Kuminga if the Warriors cannot get a player of a better caliber, or one that could fill a role requirement in exchange?

Jonathan Kuminga cannot be traded, but at the same time, he cannot be given the contract he desires. After all, the Warriors themselves currently hold a cap allocation amount of $199.518 million, putting them $351,113 above the 1st apron. At a time when the team needs to reduce expenses, they cannot splurge it on a young player.

Furthermore, Kuminga is being used even less as the Warriors’ ongoing tournament run progresses. ‘The Athletic’s’ Anthony Slater initially reported that the player was expected to be out of the Warriors’ initial Game 1 rotation during the first round of the playoffs. Sure enough, the player was not used at all during the Warriors-Rockets matchup. NBA reporter Jason Timpf touched upon this by stating, “I actually thought it was interesting that they didn’t try Kuminga tonight, especially considering how poorly they were rebounding for stretches. But at the same time, like you got steady mistake-free basketball down the roster, which I think is what Steve Kerr was shooting for, to avoid Houston getting out in transition”. However, if you ask Steve Kerr, he had a crystal-clear, albeit blunt reasoning for the snub over the past few weeks.

During a conversation on ‘95.7 The Game’s Mark Willard and Dan Dibley’ on April 16, the head coach said, “Mostly, I feel for JK, because I like him. He’s been here for four years, he’s a talented guy. Sometimes things go in a different direction. I think what happened here is pretty obvious; I’ve talked about it. Jimmy Butler came in. When JK was out, we traded for Jimmy and they play the same position. Our whole team changed. We became an ISO team with Jimmy. Movement with Steph [Curry] and iso with Jimmy. Jimmy is one of the best players in the league, so it’s not as simple as just saying, ‘Oh, OK we’ll just play them together.’ Basketball doesn’t work that way.”

“The puzzle has to fit. We found a really good formula when JK was injured and we got Jimmy, I think we went 18-2 or something right away. So we found lineup combinations that have clicked, and we’re winning and we have to stick with that. It’s brutal for JK, it really is. He’s a young player, he wants to play and he’s absolutely talented enough to play. He still may be a part of the equation in this series and maybe the next series after that. So we just have to keep plugging away and keep moving forward and he’s doing a good job of that, and I definitely feel for him,” the HC said about the player who played a critical role during the 2024-25 NBA season, averaging 5.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in 47 appearances before being sidelined.

However, Kuminga’s contract situation will certainly leave Steve Kerr contemplating what next steps to take. After all, the front office cannot be too big of a help Kuminga-wise. They can be, if the management targets negotiations with one team.

Will the Brooklyn Nets acquire Jonathan Kuminga?

Things could work, trade-wise, if a team acquires Jonathan Kuminga with at least $25 million+ cap space. One example includes the Brooklyn Nets, which is projected to have the same amount ready in cap space. The NY-based franchise is amongst the few suitors who can (currently) meet the $30-plus million-per-year price tag Kuminga previously desired.

Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley has already predicted that the Warriors will part with the young player through a sign-and-trade to the Brooklyn Nets. Meanwhile, Eric Pincus predicted that the Nets “could give him a four-year, $105.5 million offer sheet starting at $28.5 million (if it descends). Brooklyn can include a trade kicker and advances to try to swing Kuminga its way”. With the Nets having a big $41 million expiring contract in Ben Simmons, they could afford to spend on players who can become the team’s future. Having averaged 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in the Warriors’ 2024-25 regular season, Kuminga does make a case for why he deserves to be part of a team’s future.

Should Jonathan Kuminga head to the Brooklyn Nets? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.