Source

 

Kuminga's & Warriors' Contract Negotiations News:

Warriors offered 3-years $75.2 mil w team option in 3rd season ($48.3m guaranteed) + 3-years $54 mil fully guaranteed

The Warriors have strengthened their effort. Late last week, Dunleavy offered Kuminga a three-year, $75.2 million deal with a team option in the third season, sources told ESPN. That's $48.3 million guaranteed in the first two seasons and basically the same per year salary as fellow restricted free agent Josh Giddey, who re-signed with the Chicago Bulls for four years and $100 million. The difference: Half the length and a team-controlled third season and a subliminal understanding that the contract is more trade asset than commitment to a partnership.

Dunleavy and the Warriors are requesting the same structure as their previous proposal on the two-year, $45 million framework — a team option on the second season and a waiving of the inherent no-trade clause, sources said.

 

Warriors prefer a Team Option and a Multi-year Deal. Kuminga & Turner prefer a Player Option or a 1-year Deal

Their unwillingness to budge on the team option in those specific two offers is a major part of the holdup. Kuminga, gripping to the first lever of control he has had in his young career, is resistant to the idea of it, sources said. The only non-team option offer the Warriors have made to Kuminga is three years and $54 million fully guaranteed, sources said, an average of $18 million per season.

Turner and Kuminga have spent much of the summer requesting a player option as part of their preferred deals, sources said, showing a willingness to dip down into the $20 million per year range for it, but believing a team option deal should cost around $30 million per year. The Warriors have also viewed a player option as a nonstarter, sources said.

So, Turner and Kuminga have presented alternatives. One of the latest counters, sources said, came in the past week: One year on a negotiable number, presented as a souped-up version of the qualifying offer, getting Kuminga a financial bump (up from $8 million) and unrestricted free agency next summer while wiping away the inherent no-trade clause and allowing the Warriors to use him as an expiring contract at the deadline. It would serve as a bridge deal that gives both sides the ability to examine another year together, but also a much more trade-friendly salary number as opposed to the qualifying offer, which has an Oct. 1 deadline. It is similar to a concept the Brooklyn Nets proposed to Cam Thomas. Dunleavy declined the concept, sources said, and it is Lacob who is apparently against the balloon one-year offer, leaving the Warriors too vulnerable to losing Kuminga next summer for nothing.

 

Warriors prefer to have Enough for the TPMLE this Season & Clean Books & Flexibility by Summer 2027:

The Warriors have been hesitant to go that rich for that long for Kuminga, showing a concern about how the deal might age, sources said. The Curry, Butler and Green contracts all expire after the 2026-27 season. At the moment, they project to have clean books and flexibility in summer 2027.

The tentative plan hard caps them at the second apron and means $22.5 million is the most they could give Kuminga next season while holding 15 rostered players, a figure that has so far proven too low for Kuminga to accept in a multiyear deal attached to a team option.

 

UFA Intrigues Kuminga & his Multitime All-Star Dream + the S&T Offers Emboldened his Belief:

Kuminga has stated a belief that he has multitime All-Star potential. He has lined up loss of value insurance to protect himself in the event he signs the qualifying offer. He's intrigued by the possibility of unrestricted free agency next summer, sources said, when at least 10 teams are set to have real cap space. He isn't obsessing over every lost dollar in the moment and sees the qualifying offer as a clean vehicle for career control. Rival teams, most notably the Kings and Suns, have recruited him this summer and his conversations with executives and coaches and others around the league have only emboldened his long-term belief that the risk could be worth the reward.

 

Kuminga & Turner are still Holding on Hope a Better Offer or S&T can happen:

There's a reason he hasn't taken the qualifying offer yet. Turner and Kuminga are holding out in case something more appealing — via contract offer or sign-and-trade — materializes, in part because of a belief in how imperative it is for the Warriors to avoid having him on the qualifying offer.

 

 

 

Kuminga's & Warriors' Basketball Fit Problem:

Lacob, Dunleavy, Kuminga, & Tuner met in Miami in August – Lacob to Kuminga: "Do you want to be here?" Kuminga to Lacob: "Do you even want me here?"

General manager Mike Dunleavy sent a weekend request for an in-person Monday morning meeting Aug. 11 in Miami. The 10 a.m. ET timing mattered. Lacob planned to attend the Golden State Valkyries game that night in San Francisco.

So, the four most relevant parties — Lacob, Dunleavy, Kuminga and Kuminga's agent, Aaron Turner — convened for what felt like the most significant conversation of a Warriors' offseason stuck in the mud.

They talked numbers and structure and the four years of basketball scars that had led them to this stalemate. But there was an underlying question from the Lacob side that felt most pressing. "Do you want to be here?"

Considering the frigid nature of the restricted market, the Warriors, sources said, felt the offer more than fair and Kuminga's reluctance a sign of his desire to escape.

But everything within this four-year, multicharacter tug of war is layered. The team-friendly structure was designed and pitched to Kuminga as a contract more easily moved when eligible in January. They could keep and bury him on the bench or trade him to an undesirable situation. He has fierce belief in his talents and is searching for a path to somewhere he believes will grant him an opportunity to flourish.

So Kuminga turned the question back on Lacob and the Warriors. "Do you even want me here?"

 

Kuminga & Kerr have no Personal Issues, BUT Didn't like the Curry+Green+Butler Fit Comments:

Kuminga's personal relationship with Kerr isn't a problem. The messaging from Kerr and the Warriors is that Kuminga would have a substantial role to open next season, per sources. They could use his youth and scoring on the wing. But in negotiations, Kuminga's side has regularly referred to some postseason comments where Kerr highlighted the difficulty of fitting Kuminga next to Curry, Butler and Green for heavy minutes and expecting to win at the highest level. It's proof to them that the basketball fit is less than ideal for the trajectory of Kuminga's career.

 

Kuminga's Camp thought Joe Lacob, his biggest supporter, would step in to close the deal in JK's favor (he has not yet)

LACOB HAS BEEN a central figure in Kuminga's NBA career since the beginning. Bob Myers was team president and Dunleavy assistant general manager when they drafted Kuminga in 2021. They gave the collective green light, but Lacob was a driving force in the selection when others, including a few on the coaching staff, voiced a Franz Wagner preference, sources said.

Lacob has remained a staunch Kuminga supporter and vocal believer in his long-term future. He voiced an unwillingness to include Kuminga in a proposed trade from Chicago for Alex Caruso a couple of seasons back, sources said, and was still glowing about Kuminga's performance in May after he rose from out of Steve Kerr's first-round rotation to the team's leading scorer in the second-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The two sat courtside together at a Valkyries game soon after the series and Lacob asked Kuminga to keep an open mind about a future together, sources said.

But Lacob, while involved, opinionated and willing to spend, has never demanded specific rotation decisions, sources said. Kerr, a four-time champion coach, will be given the same power he has always had over his operation. Kuminga's side understands that and knows a reunion comes with a likely bench role and the possibility of being minimized for stretches of the season.

That's what brings the conversation back to the meeting with Lacob. In the lead-up, there was sentiment around Kuminga that Lacob would step in and at least deliver the type of financial pledge that signifies the long-term belief in Kuminga that he so often voices. Or, if not — if the Warriors weren't willing to commit to what Turner and Kuminga were requesting — maybe Lacob would show more of a willingness to green light a trade elsewhere and proceed with a basketball divorce that has often felt necessary. They still don't believe that box has been checked.

 

Kuminga still Plans to be Part of the Warriors Season even on a potential QO:

If he's on the qualifying offer, he would still plan to show up to training camp and be a part of this season's Warriors team, sources said, but their side views the qualifying offer route as an organizational burning of the long-term relationship. They would anticipate a clean split next summer, sources said, without motivation to let the Warriors recoup value unless necessary to get Kuminga where he would want to go.

38 comments

  1. People were saying Kuminga has no leverage.

    Why is he taking so long? What does he have to gain?

    There u go. Warriors just blinked. 

  6. Such a delusional thing to request a team option on a player you don’t want. Just shorten the contract.

  8. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Let him walk. If he thinks another club is gonna pay him 25 mil a year at this stage of his career he’s delusional

  10. Wow this is a very good offer for Kuminga. Roughly $25M/yr guaranteed for at least two years. That’s more than I expected he’d get from the Warriors, and more than I think he deserves (I thought something around $22M would be the limit based on his contributions with the Dubs so far).

    At this point, if he’s not taking a deal like this, it’s just bad business. At one point we were hearing about 2 year deals with team options on the second year!

  11. yea i mean the question “do you even want me here” is a little invalid with an offer like that. No place gonna give him that in this market

  15. So, for all those people who kept saying we should/haven’t offered 2 guaranteed years – even in doing that, he wants a player option/more.

  17. The article explained why Kuminga is taking his time signing any offer, why he believes the franchise doesn’t want him, and why he knows Kerr won’t try to fit him into the team.

    I think the part about him lining up “loss of value insurance” is super smart because it basically eliminates the whole “what if he gets hurt” wish that people have. We also know that he’s fine with losing some money to get to a situation where he feels he has freedom and control. As some people have been saying, it’s not all about the money.

    He has options for a 22-year-old who believes in himself and believes the organization doesn’t. The front office should accept one of those trades and move on.

  20. Confused on the deal offered – is ESPN saying there are team options on both the second season AND the third season in the 3y/$75M deal, or just on the third season?

  21. That really feels like a fair offer. JKs motivation is controlling which team he ends up on and the fact that such a contract means no long term future with the warriors. There also seems to be a screw em as I walk out the door mentality. Better believe all the other teams are observing this whole mess and not only thinking about his abilities as a basketball player.

  22. > LACOB HAS BEEN a central figure in Kuminga’s NBA career since the beginning. Bob Myers was team president and Dunleavy assistant general manager when they drafted Kuminga in 2021. They gave the collective green light, but Lacob was a driving force in the selection when others, including a few on the coaching staff, voiced a Franz Wagner preference, sources said.

    > Lacob has remained a staunch Kuminga supporter and vocal believer in his long-term future. He voiced an unwillingness to include Kuminga in a proposed trade from Chicago for Alex Caruso a couple of seasons back, sources said, and was still glowing about Kuminga’s performance in May after he rose from out of Steve Kerr’s first-round rotation to the team’s leading scorer in the second-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

    Lol

  24. This second paragraph is confusing. Is the 2nd year guaranteed or not?

    The Warriors have strengthened their effort. Late last week, Dunleavy offered Kuminga a three-year, $75.2 million deal with a team option in the third season, sources told ESPN. That’s $48.3 million guaranteed in the first two seasons and basically the same per year salary as fellow restricted free agent Josh Giddey, who re-signed with the Chicago Bulls for four years and $100 million. The difference: Half the length and a team-controlled third season and a subliminal understanding that the contract is more trade asset than commitment to a partnership.

    Dunleavy and the Warriors are requesting the same structure as their previous proposal on the two-year, $45 million framework — a team option on the second season and a waiving of the inherent no-trade clause, sources said.

  25. 75 million for 3 years is a good deal for him considering the market for (ball dominant players with no defense ) has been ass

    i think thats a pretty good amount 25 mill per year , for a player with a high upside who still hasnt even cracked 28min a season under unc kerr

  28. Looks like the game of chicken resulted in an extra year of salary but it’s still the teams option

    Time to take it

  31. I’m going to start referring to JK’s agent as Uncle Dennis if they turn this new deal down.

  32. i highlighted the potential 10 teams that may have cap space next year in a previous comment on a previous thread….

    none of those 10 teams are like make kuminga their number 1 priority next summer and be willing to offer that ludicrous 30+ mil a year for this guy.

    giddy set the market this summer….jalen johnson set the market for their draft class.

    kuminga is NOT better than jalen johnson

  34. The issue was the player option on the 2nd year on the initial offer. So… Dunleavy being the dipshit that he is, caved and put more money into their offer with an extra year of guaranteed money. Yet that’s not good enough?

    Fuck this guy… I don’t have an issue if he wants to play on the qualifying offer. Good and good riddance to this scrub who’s done nothing in the league but be a lil selfish bitch who wants to only play hero ball with SC30 on the team.

    Also by not signing the QO or a contract extension, he’s fucking over his teammates as training camp bout to start. There are folks waiting for his bitch ass to sign so they can sign their deals but obvious the team nor winning has never been a concern to him. There are very few Warriors players I can’t but he’s definitely in my top 3!!! Shame the FO fucked up and didn’t draft Franz Wagner over this clown…

  35. I think it’s pretty clear….Kuminga and his camp may not have a sour relationship per se with Kerr and the Warriors but there is no love lost, either, he doesn’t believe they have his best interests at heart, and he and his team are not willing to give the FO an inch.

    It sure looks like this will go all the way into October now.

  36. I wonder if that $75M is back loaded considering we know the Warriors have some cap implications if they cross about $22-23M. Wonder how the money would be spread on an annual basis in such a deal.

    But what it tells you is a) the franchise still values Kuminga and b) the franchise really does not want to lose Kuminga as an asset for nothing. I still think taking the QO wouldn’t be a massive loss for the Dubs…it would be a loss but to me there are other circumstances that are worse than he taking the QO…this news kinda lets you know they don’t feel the same way. He’s more willing to go the QO than the Warriors are.

  37. I see this Sub is still showing it’s ignorance in continuing to blame Kuminga outright because he didn’t take the offer on the table. The article says He has put an offer on the table for a one year deal at a fair number. THEY don’t want to take the offer. That is a more than “fair” deal for the Warriors.

    As I have said before, The Warriors are equally to blame for this holdout.

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