{"id":585926,"date":"2026-02-06T09:24:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T09:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/585926\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T09:24:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T09:24:45","slug":"warriors-kerr-talks-jonathan-kuminga-kristaps-porzingis-after-trade-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/585926\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors’ Kerr talks Jonathan Kuminga, Kristaps Porzingis after trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2013 Facing a room packed with reporters, live recorders and rolling cameras at Mortgage Matchup Center a few hours after Thursday\u2019s trade deadline, Warriors coach Steve Kerr expressed regret\u00a0 over how things turned out after the Warriors dealt Jonathan Kuminga<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Wednesday evening, the Warriors agreed to terms with the Hawks, sending Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the <\/a>Hawks in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No draft picks were involved in the swap that was officially announced on Thursday afternoon.\u00a0It marked the end of Kuminga\u2019s uneven four-and-a-half year tenure with the Warriors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hopeful he can take what he\u2019s learned through his experience, the ups and downs, the good and bad, and transfer that to his next opportunity and seize that opportunity, whatever that means and whatever the circumstances are,\u201d Kerr said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While he showed flashes of becoming a difference-maker on the wing after being picked No. 7 overall in the 2021 draft, the 23-year-old was never able to lock down a consistent starting spot with the Warriors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Part of that had to do with the team\u2019s unwillingness to let Kuminga, who entered the NBA as a raw 18-year-old with only one year of G-League experience, make the kinds of mistakes he was bound to make as a youngster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kerr acknowledged Kuminga just was not a good fit, noting that both coach and executives should shoulder blame for how the situation panned out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOrganizationally, the right path for us and him, it was always tricky to navigate, and we all share in that, myself included,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cHe was undoubtedly put in some tough spots coming\u00a0 to a championship team as a rookie, a team that was continuing to try to compete at the highest level, and got here with very little experience. That\u2019s a tough thing to reconcile, and I wish I had done a better job of making that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Warriors\u2019 Jonathan Kuminga (1) heads to the basket against Toronto Raptors\u2019 Sandro Mamukelashvili (54) in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

While Kerr expressed regret over how Kuminga\u2019s tenure unfolded and ultimately ended, he was also quite optimistic about the team\u2019s newest addition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Porzingis has long been one of the NBA\u2019s premier stretch centers, shooting 36.6% from 3-point range while being an elite rim protector.<\/p>\n

Even though his health \u2013 Porzingis has only played in 17 games this season \u2013 will forever be a concern for the 7-foot-2 big man, Kerr believed he can be an impact player for the Warriors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s an established player, the kind of player we\u2019ve been looking for years for,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cI don\u2019t think we would have made the trade if we didn\u2019t think he could be healthy and consistent in terms of being in the lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kerr said he hopes Porzingis will join the team on Saturday when they play at the Lakers, but does not expect him to suit up against LeBron James and Luka Doncic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the deal for Porzingis official \u2013 and the swap that sent Trayce Jackson-Davis to Toronto for a second round pick expected to be set in stone soon \u2013 the Warriors (27-24) can now move on with the season, one that Kerr stills sees as possibly ending with a deep playoff run despite Jimmy Butler\u2019s ACL tear.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to sit here and lie and say we can be as good as we were with Jimmy, there\u2019s no way,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cBut I believe in these guys, I believe in the chemistry, and I believe in the veteran leadership. If we have good health, I think we can make a really good push and be a playoff team, and when you\u2019re a playoff team, you never know how it plays out.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Kerr said that while some players may feel relief with the deadline\u2019s passing, the mood of the team during Thursday\u00a0 morning\u2019s shootaround was one of \u201csadness.\u201d Both Hield and Trayce Jackson-Davis were beloved presences in the locker room..<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the weirdest things about this profession, is that you become really close with someone, and you\u2019re with them literally every day, all day for a season, maybe for two or three years or longer, and then all of a sudden, it\u2019s just (over),\u201d Kerr said.<\/p>\n

Steph Curry injury update<\/p>\n

Steph Curry is still dealing with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (runner\u2019s knee), and the injury kept him out of Thursday\u2019s game against the Suns and his longtime antagonist Dillon Brooks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

De\u2019Anthony Melton showed up as questionable with a sore left knee \u2013 the same knee he tore his ACL in 2024 \u2013 but Kerr said the combo guard would be available against Phoenix.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Suns were without star Devin Booker, who was ruled out with a right ankle sprain, and NorCal native Jalen Green (hamstring\/hip) was also out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jimmy Butler surgery date<\/p>\n

A few minutes before Thursday\u2019s shootaround, the Warriors announced Butler will undergo ACL surgery in Los Angeles on Feb. 9.<\/p>\n

Dr. Bert R. Mandelbaum<\/a>, who is based in Santa Monica, will operate on Butler, who tore his ACL on Jan. 19 against the Miami Heat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 38 starts, Butler averaged 20 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX \u2013 Facing a room packed with reporters, live recorders and rolling cameras at Mortgage Matchup Center a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3792],"tags":[7,160,164,4056,6,986,477,4055,162,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-585926","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento-kings","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-golden-state-warriors","11":"tag-kings","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-sacramento","14":"tag-sacramento-kings","15":"tag-sacramentokings","16":"tag-san-francisco","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116022966802009168","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}