Day 50 of Kuminga vs Golden State. And it keeps getting worse. Now Stephen Curry’s campaign for a fifth championship is close to getting derailed. The Warriors have once more shut down Jonathan Kuminga’s potential trade. It’s starting to get to a concerning point for analysts. With no pressing deadline on the negotiations, the stalemate is extended to a mind-numbing degree. The result, if the Warriors don’t do something, will alienate their franchise player.

The veteran Bay Area reporter, Evan Giddings had an ominous warning for Dub Nation. He basically said if this situation didn’t conclude before the 2025-26 season, it’ll very well bleed into the regular season. Kind of like the situation in Miami they got Jimmy Butler out of.

“I think [Jonathan Kuminga] on the team could derail the season with how much of a distraction it’s going to be,” is Giddings blunt prediction.

He makes a very obvious point. It became visible last season that the Dubs locker room couldn’t handle the Kuminga tension. And it’s only grown worse since he’s announced his frustration with the team.

Latest reports state that the Warriors have stopped sign and trade discussions about Kuminga with other teams. Apparently none of the offers – mostly that would cost them more players besides the 22-year-old – have not moved the needle for the Warriors front office. So they’ve just decided he’s going to stay put.

While Steph Curry has been publicly empathetic towards his young teammate, it’s not easy to work with a player who doesn’t want to be there.

There is no internal pressure to get rid of the youngster as the team still believes he’s an asset. There would have to be an amazing offer for them to sign off a trade. Until then, the players have to live with the front office’s decision.

Who deals with the Kuminga dilemma?

Both the team and Kuminga could be playing with Curry’s, Draymond Green’s, and Jimmy Butler’s limited championship window and patience. Giddings is putting unfiltered onus on the front office to fix this mess before it messes up Curry’s season. But the team seems determined to recover assets if they have to deal Jonathan Kuminga elsewhere.

“The Warriors are trying to establish their leverage in these negotiations,” Giddings said before detailing the natural consequences of this move. “I don’t think Kuminga wants to play for the Warriors next year and the Warriors believe he does not want to sign the qualifying offer…The Warriors have dug in and they’re trying to play hardball.”

According to some reports, there’s a trade offer from the King’s on the table. The Warriors could get Malik Monk and draft picks for it. The Kings could likely give Kuminga a better salary and his wish to get out of Golden State. Why this isn’t working out on the Warriors end, who knows?

An NBA insider double-checked with the team who said that Jonathan Kuminga will be back on the roster come October. Provided he takes a $7.9 million one-year qualifying offer, or whatever the team gives him.

It appears that the team is heading towards a short-term agreement at a market rate salary without care of what that could do to Curry’s team. Under the restrictive second apron, it looks like most teams prefer recovering their losses at the trade deadline instead of the free agency. For that, the front office is risking Kuminga’s attitude bringing down the team by narrowing down his options. It might fall on Curry to salvage that.