BREAKING: Jonathan Kuminga TRADE Talks REOPEN!

BREAKING: Jonathan Kuminga TRADE Talks REOPEN!

Breaking news. The Jonathan Kaminga situation takes another turn. The Sacramento Kings a lastminute effort to land him via sign and trade. What could a deal look like? I’m Trevor Lane. This is the Basketball Bulletin. Make sure you subscribe right here to the channel. We’ve said it before. 70% of you right now, you’re not subscribed. Let’s fix that. Hit that subscribe button. Joining me is Donnie Freeman. Donnie, uh, this Jonathan Kaiga situation, we know it’s coming to an end one way or another. October 1st, the deadline for him to sign that qualifying offer. But I think it makes a lot of sense for him to ultimately land in Sacramento if we can clear some hurdles here. So it doesn’t shock me necessarily that the Kings will not go away in this situation. Yeah, there was a report that he wanted to go to Sacramento not too long ago and he really values a starting role in a position where he’s going to be featured and he has at least two commitments from other teams in Sacramento as one of those that they would put him in that type of position. So, um I I think this is obviously something that he’s been trying to get done and if this is uh something that they pull off, that’d be great for him. Yeah, I I do think that Sacramento could be a good fit, but they still need to make some tweaks in Sacramento in order to make it all work. But take take a look at this. Uh this is from Sam Amik of the Athletic, less than a week away from the deadline to decide whether or not he’s picking up that qualifying offer or taking the Warriors three-year deal, which does still include a team option at the end of it. But according to sources, there’s another scenario in play. The Warriors had been swatting away all sign and trade offers trying to shut that down. But the two teams have talked uh this week. They renewed their conversation about a sign and trade. Again, according to Sam of the Athletic, no significant progress made, but it’s not notable that the Kings have offered Malik Monk and a protected lottery protected 2030 first round pick to give Kaminga a three-year $63 million deal. So, that’s less than the Warriors deal, but for Jonathan Kaminga, this isn’t about the money. This is about the role. This is about the opportunity to prove that he is the multi-time all-star that he believes he is. So, he will take a lesser offer from Sacramento over a richer offer from Golden State, particularly if that includes a player option. Yeah, absolutely. I believe actually on that the reporting for that was that he had a player option from this. Uh yeah, he did 63 million three years player option. He also had from Phoenix was the other team that was interested in him a fouryear 80 to 88 million player option as well uh for Kaminga. So, it’s it’s more about the control again. And if the Warriors were willing to do that, I think a deal would have got done quite a while ago with Kaminga at a number that they valued more as opposed to like, you know, him trying to shoot up closer to 30 million or whatever, but they just don’t want to give him that player option and that control over his career. Uh, and they’re dead set on having the team option. I I think it’s funny that Malik Monk is the piece in all of this. Uh firstly, the Malik Monk part of it had been a bit of a non-starter previously because of the salary of Monk and we’ve questioned whether or not that that archetype of player is worth that amount of money going forward. But I say that to take nothing away from Malik. I think he’s awesome. Uh he’s a great basketball player and he’s one of those guys when he gets hot, he gets really hot. So, and he’s also really fun to watch. He’s small guard, yes, but he’s hyper athletic and all that stuff, too. It’s just my second thought is man uh if if it’s Warriors pull this off, they uh they’re going to have like quite a few small cards on this. Well, that and that’s the problem. It’s the fit with the Warriors. It’s also the value around the NBA. I know teams don’t want long-term money on the books. He’s got a player option. And it should be noted, I don’t know for sure that that Kaminga would have a player option with Sacramento, but he wants a player option from the Warriors. The Warriors want that to be a team option on the third year. That’s what Shams had reported. I pulled up my uh logs from the Shams video where he had this information and he said that both of those other offers were including player options. Okay. Well, that that is certainly a big deal for Jonathan Kaminga because he wants to bet on himself and he wants to prove that he is the guy that that he says he is and that he is this multi-time all-star, but he believes he’s not going to get the opportunity to do that in Golden State whereas he will get the opportunity to do that in Sacramento. Sacramento believes he wants to be there. Uh several obstacles to the deal remain. The Warriors interest in Monk appears to be quite muted. Uh and so he doesn’t fit with the Warriors future flexibility plans. The Warriors are reportedly one of the teams that wants 2027 flexibility to pursue Giannis out potentially Nicola Joic one of those guys who could be options out there. But if they did take him on team sources said it’s likely Golden State would look to trade him elsewhere. Now, so essentially what we’re talking about here is probably a three-team deal where Malik Monk would have to go someplace else, but it would probably need to be a three-team deal anyway because base year compensation would kick in on that level of uh raise for Jonathan Kaminga, which mean he wouldn’t count for nearly as much as he would to the Golden State Warriors in terms of outgoing salary as he would for the Sacramento Kings in incoming salary. So, the Warriors would probably have to put together some type of multiplayer deal anyway. So, if Malik Monk were to be routed elsewhere, that wouldn’t necessarily shock me. But again, I think that is a hurdle because like I said, teams don’t want to take back any money past a year or so. And that may be difficult to find a if the Warriors don’t want Malik Monk, it may be difficult to find a team that does just because he’s got three years under contract. Yeah. And then he’s got a player option as well on on top of all of that. So, like it’s just there’s not a lot of like flexibility with Monksteel. Uh overall, if you’re not all that interested in retaining him, you’re gonna have to trade him off. And if you do that, you have to say, “Hey, well, he’s got a $22 million player option that you may or may not want.” So, um yeah, I I think Malik again is a great player. We’ve just like I said, question whether or not that that scoring guard that’s kind of a one-way guy is worth around 20 million anymore in today’s NBA. with the way that the 20 to 30 million guys are kind of getting squeezed and it’s either players are kind of above that or or much less seems like teams are reluctant to give those mid20 deals anymore. Yeah, it’s the uh it’s the stars or you know mid-level exception guys and below. It’s not a whole lot of in between. It’s the it’s the mid-tier guys that wind up getting you in a little bit of trouble if you overpay them. And so teams are very very hesitant there. But there is a path to getting a deal deal done. The question is will the Sacramento Kings do this? We’re going to get there’s one thing Sacramento can do to get this deal done. Will they do it? Let’s get to that next. Over on sleeper, I’m taking Kyler Murray to get more than.5 passing yards because of course, thank you for the free square there. Malik Neighbors, I’m going to say new quarterback Jackson Dart hyperargets him and he finds his way into the end zone. And Dak Prescott tough sledding in Dallas. No CD Lamb. 242 and a half passing yards. I’m going to say Dak does not get there. If you agree with me, you disagree. Turn your football knowledge into real money with the Sleeper app. The ultimate fantasy sports app that can turn game day into payday. Just download the Sleeper app and pick more or less on your favorite players with more stats than any other daily fantasy app. Choose two or more of your favorite players from pregame or live. Pick more or less from the predicted stats and you can win up to 1,000 times your money if your picks win. Use promo code bulletin and you’ll get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See sleepers terms of use for details. currently operational in over 25 states. Check out Sleeper today. Okay, so take a look at this. Now, the Warriors don’t want to in a three scenario, they’d have to put other salary in there. They don’t want to part with Buddy Heield or Moses Moody in order to stay under the first apron, which is what something they would probably have to do. And this matters, of course, with signing Al Horford, uh, who will be getting a taxpayer mid-level exception would trigger a hard cap at that second apron as well. Could matter as they’re stacking up these salaries. But here’s what Sacramento could do. If the Warriors are going to change their stance and do the deal, it would seem that the Kings will have to budge when it comes to protections on the draft pick. Right now, the Kings say Kaminga has not performed like a lottery pick and therefore shouldn’t require an unre unprotected pick in return. Right now, if their lottery protected pick does not convey in 2030, it would become the least favorable of the 2031 first rounders between Sacramento and San Antonio. San Antonio with Victor Webbyama, there’s probably not a whole lot of optimism that that pick’s going to look particularly attractive, but could the Sacramento Kings say, “Well, we’re going to make it unprotected in 2030.” And then it becomes, should they do that? Now, as AIC reports, it’s highly unlikely the Kings would lift the protections entirely. But let me ask you this, Donnie. If this gets the deal done, and you get Jonathan Kaminga on a three-year deal, average annual value of 21 million per year with the player option of the last year, would it be worth it for the Kings to say drop lottery protected to top five protected? Should the Sacramento Kings do that? Because that appears to be the path to getting this done. Uh, I mean, if you really think Kaminga is that guy, um, then sure, you may even be devaluing that pick in the future anyway. So, it could be worthwhile. If you think Kaminga is as is that guy, then you’re right, that pick’s probably not all that valuable any because he’s going to be leading you to wins at that point. He’s still he’s still probably going to be part of your team. Put your money where your mouth is, right? I guess it is what it No, but like I think that um Dumar said something interesting yesterday that you you know you also do have to have forward thinking. It’s not all about the here and the now. And so um aside from that, I mean, yeah, I would always be reluctant to put any sort of pick in a situation where it could just convey completely like that. I would try to protect it if possible regardless of what we’re getting here. But maybe there’s some sort of middle ground on the protections that they could reach where they both feel pretty comfortable with that. Of course, I would not trade it completely unprotected because it’s Sacramento and we know they’re going to be bad probably even with Kaminga. So, if it’s unprotected, they’ll get the number two pick and they’ll pick Marvin Bagley over Luca Donic. That’s that’s just that’s what’s going to happen. So, what’s the point? Well, Wayne, hold on. Hold on. Hold on. You got to blow the pick anyway. Even if you haven’t, just trade it. Sacramento. Hold on. Sacramento or Golden State took Wiseman over who? LaMelo. Well, that’s fair. That’s but let’s but that pick, you know, if the Warriors get that pick, it is not staying with the Warriors. They’re going to try to turn that pick into Giannis or something else. And they needed a big at the time. Warrior fans, I understand the context. There’s questions about the fit, but I still would have took the talent, man. Absolutely. Absolutely. But uh yeah. Yeah. At that point, I mean I mean maybe we just give the pick to somebody else entirely at that point. Maybe put it in the hands of somebody who will use it properly, right? That’s the best case scenario. Give it to somebody else. Not the Spurs, please. Not the Spurs. Oh, anybody. Like quite literally anybody but the Spurs or the Thunder. Um, so I I do think there is a I think there is a pathway to getting a deal done here. I’ll also say this. If Sacramento does this, they cannot be done. If Sacramento does this and you’re going to invest this in Jonathan Kaminga, goodbye to Marty Rozan. Get him off the roster if you’re going to make Jonathan. And I’m not saying he’s a bad veteran to have in the locker room and all that kind of stuff, but clear the way for Jonathan Kaminga if you’re going to do this. You’ve already got too many guys that are score first on this team. I’m okay with Sacramento investing in a young Jonathan Kaminga, even if his primary skill set is putting the ball in the basket. They have too many guys who do just that right now. But if Malik Monk is going out and you can find doesn’t have to be immediately but you can find a subsequ sub subsequent way to move on from D Rozan if you can move on from some of these other guys and then you’re building long-termish around Kaminga perhaps Zack Lavine Keegan Murray okay you’re you’re starting to look at and have something interesting there I still question whether Sabonis is the right big to have with that group but what I’m saying is that if you do go get Jonathan Kaminga I’m not totally opposed to that but don’t get Jonathan Kaminga and then keep this roster ultimately as is because that’s a recipe for disaster. So, uh I’m going to do you one better here. Um can you pull up Sacramento’s roster really quick? And firstly, like yeah, it’s going to be a process that’s going to be a multi-year process. It’s going to take time for them to be able to maneuver around and build a a roster around Kuminga and whoever else they, you know, want to put in the featured role on this roster. But they are going to need to really, and I mean really, consider tearing this entirely down. You know, you you kind of skated around it like I don’t know if Sabonis is the right guy. I’m going to tell you, I think that if they’re going to go here, Sabonis needs to go. Lavine needs to go. Um, D Rozan needs to go. I think all these guys need to go uh some at some point during this Kuminga stretch here. Why are we looking at Volcanoes? Is that It’s Sacramento’s roster. Oh my god. I at first I thought that was your computer wallpaper. I was like what happened? But like Sacramento’s roster is a disaster. Like I’m dead serious. I actually think and again it’s not something they have to do immediately. And that’s not to say any of these guys aren’t good players or won’t be good elsewhere. Can’t be the final finishing piece to a team winning a championship. All the other caveats you want to throw. I just think Sacramento needs to strongly consider a full-on pivot into the youth and try to build around, like I said, the guys are going to primarily feature in that 23, 24, 25 year old range. Maybe give Keegan a legit shot. I mean, he’s extension eligible right now. He’s another guy that hasn’t gotten that done. Um, and who knows if he does at this point, but he’s got till uh right before the start of the season to get it done. Yeah. So, who knows if he does or doesn’t. There’s there’s quite a few guys that are in a similar situation as Keegan, actually. But, you know, him um uh Kaminga, they’ve got some other guys on this team like Ellis potentially. See if you have something with Carter. Like, I think you just need to fully invest that way. You’ve got some of these guys that are like 28, 29, 30, 31. Like, you just kind of go the other way. And you may have to wait for some of these deals to expire. That’s why I said it’s a multi-year thing because you may not realistically be able to trade off all these guys. But I think they need to strongly consider that it needs to be the path that you’re going down anyway. You don’t necessarily, you’re not going to immediat, oh, we got, you know, we got John the Kaminga and goodbye D Rozan, goodbye Sabonis, goodbye all these other pieces and we’ve got a bunch of 3 and D players suddenly alongside uh alongside Keegan Murray and Kaminga and I don’t know, maybe it’s Zach Lavine who was fantastic, quietly fantastic because of who he played for. He didn’t get enough recognition, but he had a great season last year. That’s why I said I think these guys are great. I just they’re not on the timeline anymore. It just doesn’t fit. Yeah, they’re not on the timeline and it’s not the fit that they need. But nonetheless, we know Sacramento values Jonathan Kaminga and we know they want Kaminga. We know the Warriors seem to believe their future lies elsewhere. We know Kaminga believes his future lies elsewhere. Whether it’s now in a trade with Sacramento or at the trade deadline at some point or if it’s next summer, Jonathan Kaminga is going to leave the Golden State Warriors. That’s happening. That’s going to happen. Uh, if the Warriors find the right price, I think they will move him. I think Jonathan Kaminga would welcome a change of scenery where he feels like he can spread his wings. It’s going to happen. The question is, will this opportunity be it? And it could very well come down to those pick protections and whether or not Golden State can come to accept like a if not lottery protected pick, maybe it’s top five, maybe it’s top seven, you know, whatever protections they can haggle over and figure out. And again, that clock is ticking. October 1st, the deadline for Jonathan Kaminga to sign that qualifying offer. Donnie, I am more optimistic now though, having this report in that the two sides are because Golden State was reportedly shutting everything down. Didn’t even want to talk about it. Now, suddenly they’re listening again. That’s got me a little more optimistic that perhaps Jonathan Minga does not start the season with the Sacramento Kings. And I use the word optimistic because I truly believe that if the Warriors get what they want in return, that is the best scenario for everyone involved. Mhm. Yeah, we talked about it earlier that this is going to have to resolve and and it’s there’s there’s a deadline on it, period. But it’s going to need to resolve probably sooner than that so they can get these other guys signed and, you know, in market and all that stuff for what they’re going to be doing. So I expected it to be done this weekend. And I still am probably on that wavelength of like expecting this weekend, but they needed to keep all their options open. They probably have also looked into other things as well that maybe we’re not privy to in terms of Jonathan, maybe certain parameters on deals. They’re just trying to go through it and run the full list of things that are possible to them. Now, I wanted to say this really quick. You said you feel at some point, doesn’t matter when, at some point, Kamingo will be gone. Yeah. And you’re pretty sure on that. Is there any possibility anyway that he works it out with Golden State and they keep him all that stuff? I mean, you never say never in today’s NBA. We’ve got an NBA where Miles Turner is a Milwaukee Buck, Luca Donic is a Los Angeles Laker, right? You never say never in this league. Sometimes teams and players, they patch things up, they go through these tough negotiations, and then they figure things out. Hell, the the Brooklyn Nets, I believe it was yesterday, uh Sean Marks was talking about how he didn’t it’s not a foregone conclusion that Cam Thomas is leaving the Nets even though he took the qualifying offer, right? You never know the way things are are going to turn out. But it does seem like it’s not just a hey, I you know, I I the personalities are rubbing me the wrong way or something like that with Jonathan Ka. It seems like at a fundamental level, he believes he believes in Golden State he’s not able to play the best basketball that he can. And I think that is at the heart of the problem. So that seems like a hard thing to reconcile unless there’s a significant shift in the Warriors roster. And maybe there is Draymond, Jimmy Butler, Steph Curry, these I mean you better be buying Icy Hot in bulk. These guys are old. It’s you know and an injury to what and god forbid I don’t want to see anybody injured but an opportunity opening up due to injury is not an unfathomable scenario either. So, never say never, but I would still be surprised if within the next year or two, Jonathan Kaminga, sometime in the next year or two, Jonathan Kaminga is elsewhere. I mean, it’s funny because we talk about it like Kuminga is like some guy that averaged like six points for them or something. He was like their second or third leading scorer last year, 15 points per game. Like, he he was pretty good for them. Played a good amount of basketball. Uh he did catch some DMPS particularly in the playoffs, but I mean he was clearly useful to them up to a point. And that’s just it. Like when they did that, the Warriors sent the message. This this isn’t our dude. You don’t DNP the guy, right? You don’t do that. And so that’s where Sacramento is looking at this going, why do we have to give up an unpro you already told us he’s not the guy. Why do why should we have to give you an unprotected pick? I get it. Yeah, but it’s not about how much he is worth to us. is how much he’s worth to you. Correct. That’s what that’s that’s what matters there. So, if you really if you’re like I said earlier, if you’re Sacramento and you really think he’s the guy, you should be comfortable giving up that pick, frankly. But, like I said, you have to be forward thinking. So, I understand why they wouldn’t be, but that’s that’s kind of the rebuttal from the Warriors. Put your money where your mouth is, right? Yep. Yep. I mean, hey, sometimes you can think of somebody as the guy and it puts you in a very precarious situation though. Pelicans looking at you. You know, the Derek Queen situation voted the worst move of the offseason. They thought Derrick Queen is the guy. They gave up what it took to get him and now everybody’s looking at them going, “What is wrong with the Pelicans uh after that deal?” So, we’ll see ultimately where this lands. But the clock is ticking. October 1st, the deadline to make that decision on the qualifying offer. But man, the last piece to this, Jonathan Kaminga, if I’m him and I’m hearing now, oh, the Kings are not out out the Kings are not completely shut out. I’m pushing that direction if I’m Jonathan coming and doing what I can to get to Sacramento. There’s also been talk that Golden State doesn’t want to give him to a regional rival in in Sacramento. Sure, I I understand that to a degree, but again, as long as you’re getting what you want and you are confident he’s not the guy, just make the move. You’re going to see the dude four times regardless of if he’s regional or not. It’s not like the Kings and Warriors have this like long It’s not the Lakers and the Celtics or something like that. You know what I mean? It’s not the same. It’s No, I just want to say really quick before we go. You said uh if I’m him and I was I I instantly thought of Reeves. I’m him. I’m him. You’re not allowed to talk Austin Reeves here. He only makes people mad because they Oh, he they he needs to be traded. He shouldn’t be start Anyway, that’s a whole other conversation. All right, everybody. Give us your thoughts in the comments down below. Jonathan Kaminga, will this trade to the Sacramento Kings actually get done? the two sides restarting this conversation. Will the Sacramento Kings pull back a little bit on these pick protections and land Jonathan Kaminga at the buzzer right before training camp really gets going? Give us your thoughts in the comments section. Don’t forget to subscribe right here. Till next time, see you and stay safe.

In this video Trevor lane and Donnie Freeman discuss the news that the Kings and Warriors have renewed their sign and trade talks around Jonathan Kuminga….

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