Anyone who believed that $48 million anticlimax was the end was naive. The Warriors front office and Jonathan Kuminga ended the offseason stalemate with the grown-up equivalent of a kindergarten schoolyard pinky promise. Now Kuminga is on the bench and one of the biggest trade targets in the league. Even the same teams that were in talks in the summer are interested. What’s likely changed is the potential asking price. That’s left the fans of two franchises divided.

Among the teams that were stubbornly chasing JK were the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings. Sources claimed Kuminga expressed keenness in one of them. He ultimately signed the two-year, $48.5 million deal with the Dubs.

Regardless, a trade is inevitable. The likely date would be between January 15, 2026 and the trade deadline. It’s a question of where.

Marc Spears confirmed that the Sacramento Kings are still interested in acquiring the forward. Before the season began, they were willing to offer pieces the Warriors didn’t necessarily need. The mock trade packages look a lot different today.

What may have changed is the fan sentiments in the Bay Area and Sacramento. Until a couple of months ago, the NBA community at large would’ve taken anything to end the reality show between Kuminga and the organization. Things have changed. The Kings are 6-15, the Warriors have mounting injuries. It’s hard to see how Sacramento can help the Warriors in exchange for Kuminga’s potential.

Kuminga trade causes bitter feelings in the Bay

The moment Spears confirmed that the Kings are waiting in the sidelines to swoop Jonathan Kuminga, there were two kinds of reactions in Sacramento. “We don’t want anyone on the kings” and those who are posting one-way flight schedules from San Francisco to Sacramento.

Read Top Stories First From EssentiallySports

Click here and check box next to EssentiallySports

Given the state of the Kings, their fans reluctantly admit, “Kings are hungry for any help.” A player like Kuminga is not just ‘any help.’ But he’s suffered a decline since opening this season as a starter and dropped to 30% efficiency.

In the Bay, the looming question was, “Dang who would we get back ?” Spears confirmed that the old proposal is on the table, Malik Monk for Jonathan Kuminga. A proposal that makes Dub Nation ask, “Asking price decreasing, huh? 🤔”

Monk, too, has suffered a statistical decline from 17.2 last season to 12.6 so far in 2025. Meanwhile, Zach LaVine just had a 42-point outing. If this deal is happening, he’s the one Warriors fans favor.

But it’s easy to say, “Zach Lavine and we got a deal.” The Warriors can’t move Kuminga until January 15. Everything that went down in the offseason, even his agent publicly calling out the team and Stephen Curry making public declarations of trust in his teammate, was all going to lead up to what happens in January.

Frustrated ones demand, “Warriors need to trade his a– or rip up that contract. He overplayed his hand in the offseason, time to move on.” Others question the $48 million deal, arguing, “The warriors overplayed their hand… Didn’t want to trade Kuminga for Siakam now look lmaoo.”

That contract could be the setup to get Monk.

But the last thing the Warriors need is another guard. “And the warriors are still uninterested in Malik Monk and I’ll take one guess that the Kings are still unwilling to part ways with Keegan Murray. Man the Kuminga news cycle is so exhausting,” summed up the news of this potential trade.

If Malik Monk shows up in the Bay on January 16, it wouldn’t surprise anyone. It would not make most fans happy either.