Warriors Predicted to Take Unorthodox Trade Path on Jonathan Kuminga originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

While the major question surrounding the future of the Warriors here in the short term remains how the team can upgrade its roster around the Stephen Curry-Jimmy Butler tandem in the coming weeks, the question behind that remains the one that has loomed over the organization for years now: What to do with Jonathan Kuminga?

The Warriors could look to bring in help for the current lineup by dealing away Kuminga in a sign-and-trade, but the major problem with that approach is that Kuminga is a restricted free agent, meaning he would be subject to rarely-used base-year compensation rules.

That limits the Warriors to taking back a package worth, in terms of salary, half of what Kuminga gets paid as a result of the sign-and-trade deal. There are some instances in which that could work–if the Bulls sent back Coby White, for example, who makes $12.9 million, while signing Kuminga for $25.8 million. 

But ideally, the Warriors would be able to get back $25.8 million in assets if Kuminga is a $25.8 million player. And there’s one way they can do that. 

“Just sign him and wait, that’s the logical way to do this,” one Western Conference excutive said. “It’s unorthodox but, you pay Kuminga, you play him, you see if it works. It probably won’t, but in that case you just trade him at the deadline. And if you gave him $25 million per year, you get $25 million in players back.”

The negatives are obvious–Kuminga could struggle, again, to fit what the Warriors want from him, and the potential for a trade would cloud Kuminga’s status and, presumably, the team’s chemistry. 

But in the end, the Warriors would get fair value for him. It’s an unusual path, but it ensures that Kuminga brings value to Golden State. 

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.