In an effort to minimize stress heading into the 2024/25 season, the Warriors decided to hold training camp in Hawaii. As Anthony Slater of The Athletic writes, that’s not to say there’s no stress, particularly for a couple of former lottery picks.
Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, both members of the 2021 draft class, are eligible for rookie scale extensions until Oct. 21, the day before the season begins. While things could certainly change over the next five-plus weeks, there is currently a gap in negotiations, with no “significant progress” in contract talks for either player, league sources tell Slater.
Kuminga will earn a little over $7.6MM in ’24/25, the final season of his rookie contract, while Moody will earn about $5.8MM. Both players will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2025 if they don’t sign extensions.
Slater’s article primarily focuses on Kuminga, who is reportedly seeking a five-year, maximum-salary contract that would pay him 25% of the salary cap starting in 2025/26 (a projected $224MM). According to Slater, the Warriors aren’t inclined to offer that — or any deal that approaches $44.8MM per year.
There’s still a possibility that an extension between Golden State and Kuminga could be reached, assuming the 21-year-old forward is open to accepting less than the max. Slater suggests a deal in the range of “$30-ish” million annually could be a “reasonable middle ground.”
Sources tell Slater the Warriors’ front office has been preaching “patience and pragmatism” this offseason as it focuses on roster flexibility. And extending either player would subject them to the poison pill provision, potentially making it very difficult to move them in a major in-season trade. Again, that doesn’t rule out possible extensions, but it’s certainly something the Warriors are cognizant of.
Kuminga would really have to breakout and prove himself before the Warriors should even consider anywhere near that kind of offer.
Chucktoad1 , regardless of what anybody on this board thinks Kuminga is worth, the market values him at north of $30M, as do the Warriors. If Kuminga told the Warriors today that he’d take $28M/yr, they’d sign him on the spot.
I’d say the opposite of what you suggest is true: if Kuminga makes little or no progress this year, he’ll still sign for well over $25M.
How is Jonathan Kuminga going to tell the Warriors he’d take 28 million a year when this article States he’s asking for 45 million a year?
Gary , I was trying to communicate that the Warriors would sign Kuminga immediately if the price was $28M, not that his agent was offering that under-market price. In other words, the Warriors believe it’ll take more than that if they wait.
BTW, any agent/agency representing Kuminga would be publicly demanding the max. The fact that the agent is telling the media that is standard negotiating practice.
Makes sense now.
They’re between a rock and a hard place with Jonathan Kuminga. Do they let him reach restricted free agency? Do they trade him? What are your thoughts?
Edit: okay I see your thoughts below under cap n crunch.
He is a restricted free agent so the warriors could match whatever he is offered. Not many teams will have that much money laying around unless they are a real bad team like the Pistons or hornets.
Bad teams with cap space are exactly the type of teams that might make a play at Kuminga, he’s still young with huge upside. Brooklyn should have around $49 million, Houston $30 million and Utah, San Antonio along with Washington should have between $23-25 million and that’s before they make any cost cutting trades or renounce their rights to anyone. All those teams would love to acquire Kuminga or at least make their offers and force Golden State’s hand.
If it’s for 30 or under warriors will match.
Gary , you got it: rock and a hard place.
Ignore Ari nostrils toad. Completely on point with your comment.
Good on GSW for not just handing JK that offer, he needs to earn it
With those contract demands its also no surprise no trade occurred
** It sucks for fans as you want to see your young pups extended but you can’t just cave every time a demand is made, JK’s is pretty absurd IMO today, Id hardball um the whole way, they have all the leverage under RFA
C & C , Actually, Kuminga is considered to have considerably more leverage than the Warriors, and that’s why his agent is asking for the highest number possible. Everybody knows that under no conditions will the Warriors let Kuminga walk, and that, as the season progresses, the price continues to rise to match the highest price available on the open market at the end of the year.
The source quoted ok in this article isn’t alone. Every analyst/pundit on record is expecting Kuminga to ultimately be paid over $30M. That’s where Kuminga is NOW. If he improves, that number goes up.
Kuminga is still only 21 years old with, inarguably, elite athleticism. He grades as an over-average defensive player by every metric and advanced analytic. He’s already the Warriors 2nd best offensive player. He scored > 16pts in 26 mpg last year, and shot 53%. That projects to > 22 ppg in 34 mpg. (Compare that to any of the guys who just got rookie extensions.). He’s improved steadily every year.
Book this: the Warriors are banking on Kuminga and Podz. Kuminga hasn’t been offered in a trade, and won’t be at any time this season. A big chunk of the $35M-$50M that will be available in 2025-26 (helped by the league’s scheduled increases to cap and aprons, along with the departure of GP2, Looney, and, if necessary, Melton), is earmarked for Kuminga.
How can the price rise he’s asking for the absolute max Today ? You might want to re think that statement
Kiumiga has little leverage today and relative to the ask none at all
how many teams have cap space to pay kuminga a huge contract? Not many.
arc89 , I would have posed exactly that question a couple of months ago, before the Klay trade.
Since then, I’ve learned about how sign-and-trade and trade exceptions make it so ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’, including with transactions involving rookie extensions.
OT, after the Klay trade, I saw a video with Bobby Marks explaining how every GM always has a set of deals lined up with other GM’s that allow him to move on huge opportunities that come out of nowhere. The deal that Myers did with Dallas to move Barnes and Bogut when KD suddenly became available in June 2016 was worked out on Christmas Day, 6 months earlier.
Human Rain Delay, you’re missing 2 key points.
First, being a “restricted free agent” isn’t as good as being an unrestricted one insofar as you can’t choose the next team you want to play for. But, ANY imminent free agent has the leverage insofar as he can choose to be paid his fair market value at the end of a contract. When that imminent “restricted free agent” is confident he has value on the open market, he effectively controls the timing and price.
Second, you’re confusing the number his agent is publicly “asking for” with the reality of the negotiation. There are these 3 numbers to keep in mind:
1. The “max”, which is what the agent will always ask for in a case where the 2 sides are known to be far apart. Tha “max” is fixed in the $42M-$45M range right now by the CBA. But the fact that the agent is asking for this doesn’t mean that there isn’t an ongoing negotiation.
2. The amount that the Warriors are willing to pay, which will change over time based on Kuminga’s perceived value at the end of the season. The max (or $42M) will always be the upper bound. For the sake of this discussion alone, let’s say that it’s currently $28M.
3. The highest price that an NBA team will offer Kuminga at the end of this 2024-25 season should he decline the Warriors’ final offer. That number will change over the season based on Kuminga’s performance, and all parties will have roughly the same opinion, although they may say differently. It’s also the number that the Warriors must match to keep him a Warrior should a deal not get done sooner. For the sake of discussion, let’s assume that this number ranges from, worst case, $20M to, best case, the CBA-determined max) $42M. I use $20M for the case that Kuminga has a lousy season, loses bargaining power, and is sure to get from at least 1 of the 30 eligible NBA teams.
Kuminga and his agent will not sign if they believe the Warriors current price, (as in 2.), is significantly below his value on the open market after this season, (as in 3). Nor will they sign if they believe the Warriors offer is not significantly above the worst case, of $20M.
Kuminga and his agent believe his value, as in 3., will go up over this season. In that case, it doesn’t make business sense for them to negotiate unless the Warriors will up their offer significantly.
Well versed already on how the cba operates
Your 3 is Just repeating what myself and everybody else is saying , he has to earn it moving forward , he’s nowhere near his (25%) max in any teams eyes today
Kuminga isn’t worth that much right now. He’s good, but his game has holes you could drive a car through (namely he can’t shoot consistently from anywhere, though his defense also fluctuates despite being good overall). Cam Johnson’s deal from the Nets is a starting point, but I don’t expect him to outearn Quickley, even without IQ’s unlikely incentives.
Kuminga has played like 10 good games and wants to be paid like he has actually been a consistent contributor. See what he brings to the table this year when he will be expected to be the number 2 scorer, and worry about the contract next year.
“Well coach my rookie contract is up. When is the brinks truck coming, again?” These young players are so clueless.
Seattle, it will show a lot when we watch JK the first part of this year. Did he work on his game this summer or not? We will know right away and so will the Warriors.
Gary, no need to feed the troll. Guy has a personal issue against any young player. Doesn’t have a clue about what an elite superstar Kuminga is about to be in this league.
“These young players are so clueless” no, its the old men who never played in the NBA in the comments who are the ones who are truly clueless.
Why should they since neither have shown they are worth that much? Prove you deserve the money.
B-b-but my rookie contract is up. Salary cap bigger now, me want 40 mil, fam #ongod
Its the Poole factor. Gave him his bag and he went south. Can’t trust potential because the peak may be what he did last year.
I’m sorry but if you don’t think Kuminga is about to break out as a legit superstar in this league, you might not know basketball. Defense? He’s lockdown. Offense? Its a hard team to adjust to when you have Steph as the be all end all, but as a 21 year old, Kuminga has finally figured out and he showed out all the second half of last year. People would know this about this already if they actually watched games and not stats sheets.
He was inconsistent in the 2nd band as well
Well it looks like not only Moody will be pushed out the door by the trade deadline, perhaps Jonathan kuminga as well?
I sure hope that the mystery stud becomes apparent and a team crumbles from within before the tread deadline so we can line up a deal. Not sure who that guy is but these two young guys appear to be on the way out the door if those are the contract demands.
(To be honest I’d rather have Bradley Beal at the deadline for two and a half more years instead of these two young guys and Max contracts for the next three and a half years. I will get bashed for that but it’s just my opinion. Beal can sit on the wing and be a shooter just like Buddy Hield. It’ll be podski and Green and Melton and Anderson driving and kicking it out to the shooters.)
Now we know why Danny Ainge didn’t want Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. The word got out concerning their contract demands.
Pretty much just Kuminga’s. We don’t know much of anything about Moody’s demands.
Yes but I don’t think Ainge nor the Warriors value Moses Moody enough to give him the going rate for a 14th pick coming upon rookie scale extension time.
Eon, you don’t know Moody’s demands and I don’t know Moody’s demands but the Warriors do and so does Danny Ainge. He’s eligible to sign an extension now and has been for a little while. Of course he made his demands known.
So no, not “pretty much just Kuminga’s.” Kuminga’s and Moody’s.
Moody isn’t in position to make any huge demands. He may not even be in the rotation. He’s 6’6″ with no ball handling chops so that leaves him as an option for either wing spot or a small ball PF. Podz, Wiggins, Kuminga, Melton, Hield, Anderson and Payton will all be in play for those spots as well.
Watch both of them accept far under market value deals which allow GSW to get a big name FA and then its KD years all over again.
I don’t think that’s going to happen Davey. I think they’d rather reach restricted free agency and take a chance then accept a big discount with the Warriors. Just a guess though you could be right.
Gary , it makes sense for Kuminga to wait until the end of the year, but it probably doesn’t for Moody.
When a player knows there will be significant demand and believe his current team is under-valuing him, it makes sense to wait and get offers. De’Andre Ayton did this, and forced Phoenix to match an offer from Indy that was reportedly $8M more than what the Suns were offering.
However, the risk of going on the open market is that other teams are not inclined to offer unless they see a significant chance of not being matched by the team owning the player’s rights. That’s the nightmare scenario for agents, where a player’s value drops to the veteran minimum, and why agents suggest to mid- lower-tier young players to get their rookie extension as soon as possible.
Kuminga’s agent and the Warriors both know there will be offers on the open market for Kuminga. Moody’s agent is likely not thinking this way. That’s why Moody would prefer a trade ASAP.
Kuminga yes, Moody not really.
Use Moddy in a trade. That’s what I’d do. Don’t lose him for nothing.
Agree. Sadly, Moody’s never had the opportunity he deserved and that won’t change this year.
Moody is actually really good and showed signs of breaking out if everyone actually started watching him play instead of spending 100% of their time slurping Podz for his 0.5 charge fouls a game (which do nothing) while his lack of size hinders GSW defensively.
Warriors have the leverage. 5 yrs for $150m for Kuminga. It might not be max but it’s generational wealth for 21 yrs old. He would be wise to take the offer. Anything can happen next season including injuries.
As for Moody, take a 2 yr extension. Better to have some security than nothing. Just in case.
Didn’t use them for trade bringing in better top end talent or at least a B option scoring wise, don’t want to pay them. White flag firmly raised, enjoy warrior nation. These aren’t the moves of a ball club expecting or hoping to go far. How about those season ticket and jersey sales lol. Is the members drive going well?
What? You’re always coming in here talking nonsense and running your mouth.
They weren’t traded because the other team or teams wouldn’t take them. Ever thought of that?
You can offer them all day long but if nobody wants them your trade scenario above is not reality.
Didn’t you just win the championship last year, how can you still be jealous unless it’s the four rings and one against the Celtics recently?
You’re on Pace for two more at least in my opinion. Maybe not in a row but Boston is young enough they could do it. Unless you’re over here because the Celtics articles result in crickets and all the passionate fans are over here on the warrior articles? I could see that. No problem in that case. Rant on !!
Well it is pretty easy to upset the warriors fans. Ever stop to think the warriors just rate Kuminga, Podz or moody to higher value than they actually are? Maybe the jazz didn’t want Kuminga at $44 mil per? Like I said ‘didn’t use these guys in a trade to get Steph help in the twilight of his career and now don’t pay these guys. Contending teams don’t send mixed messages like this. Oh no, not Celtic crickets articles….the three or four nut job cultish warriors fans make up fifty posts and that’s somehow an achievement?
It’s not an achievement it’s entertaining. You know, because you agree with that and here all the time?
Nobody said anything about podski. He’s on many teams wish list and probably the biggest reason is he still early in his rookie scale contract. But he’s also a good player. But he’s not mentioned here. We’re talking about Jonathan K. and Moody.
Nobody wants those guys because of their contract demands and their game is not polished. You are dinging the Warriors for not getting somebody for them and I’m saying that is not reality.
They can’t get someone to plug in and be the number two guy for JK and moody. Can’t be done.
Who’s upset? Sounds like you are. You keep running your mouth.
i feel better about the Kuminga/moody situation because the opposite happens of what you claim will happen. Funny how every warrior fan is not worried but you are worried. Confidence in my warriors.
I would have traded Moody when he had value… and now he’s getting cooked by a 17 yr old?
Yes !!!
EonADS , IMO , Kuminga has considerably more value than Quickley. (BTW, Toronto always pay a ~8% premium on contract because Canada/Ontario taxes are much higher than any in the US, but we can overlook that).
Kuminga is a better player now, even though at 25 Quickley is 4 years older. If Quickley got $35M, there are teams that will pay Kuminga considerably more.
Lmao, no. Quickley is an elite defensive guard and 3pt shooter who can score off the dribble and run plays for others. Kuminga has higher potential, but he’s not even close to IQ at present. The contract he’s looking for is in the league of what Franz Wagner got, and Franz and Quickley put up almost identical value last year with Quickley far outstripping Franz the year prior.
Kuminga is a good player, but has clear flaws. Quickley’s ceiling is lower, but he’s exceptionally well-rounded, and Kuminga isn’t there yet.
EonAds , you sound informed, so I don’t expect to change your mind. We agree on one thing: Kuminga has far more upside. Kuminga has played 3 seasons, and, at 21, is younger today than Quickley, who received his extension at 25, was before his first. Kuminga played his first game of organized basketball at 14, played as a professional against grown men at 18, and continues to improve rapidly.
Quickley is a nice player, mainly offensively. Respectfully, I strongly disagree that Quickley is an “elite defender”. In fact, he’s considered an under-average defender by NBA scouts and as measured by any analytic you can find for his Toronto days.
Quickley is smart and a good team defender, but he’s too small to guard anybody but PG’s, and he’s been hunted relentlessly since arriving in Toronto.
Let’s get back together in 1 year to see where things stand with Kuminga vs Quickley.
Kuminga can’t shoot, can’t create his own shot, has shown some progress defensively but still has a long way to go, and his BBIQ has been questionable at times…all things conveniently left out of the link you posted. You think that player is worth, what, 40MM+ as of today? Under the new CBA where teams are afraid to clear the second apron? Even rebuilding teams likely to pursue Kuminga would be affected by that, as a high upside, higher risk player like him would be more difficult to move if he doesn’t live up to expectations. Too much money to commit to a guy who, as of today, hasn’t realized enough of his potential to make the math work. Maybe he gets there by season’s end, of course.
But I am curious what makes you think he’s so much better than Quickley? He’s extremely efficient, sure, but that’s by design with most of his shots coming around the rim. And he’s not a two-way player yet, nor someone who can handle the ball like Quickley does. Finally, Quickley has always been an advanced stats darling and also had an edge there last season. Am I missing something?
Shea , I’m assuming you don’t follow the Warriors closely or you’d know that the Warriors are all the way in on Kuminga. He’s progressed steadily since being drafted at 18. The Warriors let Klay go so that Kuminga could start. The Warriors didn’t make Kuminga available in a trade for this reason.
As a starter, Kuminga averaged more than 20 ppg, and the Dubs went 22-11. You say Kuminga is not a 2-way player yet. I’ll counter that you won’t find a single NBA front-office person or analytically based evaluation that doesn’t say that Kuminga is a substantially better defensive than offensive player. He’s currently over-average at both.
Of course, there is always risk that a young player won’t continue to develop, but Kuminga is 21, not 25 , like Quickley. He’s a freak athlete at 22, and, like all people that age, will continue to mature physically for 2-3 more years.
Kuminga scored > 16 ppg, playing 26 mpg. At 34 mpg, like the players who did get extended, that’s > 22mpg. He was the Warriors 2nd best offensive player last year. Defensively, only Draymond and GP2 were better.
You say he can’t shoot. How many players in the league that aren’t bigs shoot 53%? And, His 2pt shooting away from the basket is 44%.
I’m going to disagree with you aristotle. I believe the Warriors made Moody AND JK available in the Utah trade.
It’s Podski who was not made available.
With the contract demands coming up by JK I think the Warriors would have gladly gave up any potential he possesses.
As everyone is saying, he’s still riding his “potential.”
Not sure how many guy’s potential pays them the max? I think he’s going to be disappointed and he’ll be traded, or reach restricted free agency, or take a big discount from 45 million.
Not sure which but as we agreed, the warriors are between a rock and a hard place with this player. Moses Moody? Easy decision- trade him. JK not so much. Podski- keep him for now.
Gary , Warriors have never made Kuminga available in a trade. Lakota has said so twice recently. Of course, you don’t have to believe Lakob when he says that, but it’s consistent with everything else he’s been saying publicly for the last 4 years, which is that successful franchises never give away the future for the present. Brad Steven’s of the Celtics often says the same thing.
The Warriors control Kuminga for 5, possibly 6, more years.
Yes but you know how it is. I could only believe about half what team personnel say.
Look at the example with Klay Thompson. Everybody says we’d love to keep Klay, Warrior for Life stuff, he’s important part of our thing here…, yet I think they decided at the beginning of last season that this would be it.
He’d fallen off a cliff in the parts of the game he excelled at and he really wasn’t a complete player to begin with.
I think the decision was already made but of course he brought so much to the championship teams you never want to speak ill of a guy like that. His number should be retired and the rest of it.
But when THEY said they want to keep him that wasn’t the truth.
Could be the same deal with jk. That potential hasn’t been realized yet. Fingers crossed but for that kind of money he’s demanding there’s no way.
We’ll see how it plays out but I don’t believe the words of the owner 100% that’s for sure.
It’s going to be a very tough decision on who to start, Wiggins or jk. The Warriors want to trade both of them !!
So how do you maximize each player’s value? Which one starts? Which one would be better coming off the bench? Wow huge questions.
WHY KUMINGA IS ABOUT TO GET PAID
Analysis of Kuminga vs Jaylen Brown vs Siakkam vs Jimmy Butker vs Giannis
link to goldenstateofmind.com
The NBA has become disgusting, honestly. Because someone is tall and decent at a sport, they suddenly “command” $30,000,000 for what? To score 20ish points a game, get some rebounds, and then what? Only one team wins the title every season. These rookies are wild! Gimme 40 mil to score 15 a game and not win the team a title or even come close! If every job was this ridiculous we would all be rich! I’ve never heard anyone say “my favorite player is Kuminga.” What do these young players actually contribute to the commodity? It’s insane. The guys that were once making $12,000,000 a year are these same guys now, but they want $40,000,000. Because their rookie contract ended? Uh, no. Just because the league is making money doesn’t mean you deserve $40,000,000 for being one of 15 players on a team. Are these agents really gassing these average AF knuckleheads up?
Im guessing you might find of lot of the world to be confusing. Kuminga is 1000x better than you think he is. You might not know ball tbh…
Davey J, like you, I have high hopes for Kuminga. But SBDM’s disgust over the money matters should not be taken as a threat to our Dubs fandom. As it stands – RIGHT NOW – Kuminga should be slapped in the face by someone (Steve Kerr?) for even THINKING he’s worth 40+ a year! 40+ a year should be reserved for guys who you have a pretty damn good idea what to expect from them in a game-to-game/week-to-week/month-to-month basis. RIGHT NOW, Kuminga is like a uber-athletic version JaVale McGee with a better – but nowhere near honed – shooting touch. Last season, Kerr desperately needed someone on the roster to step up and take some of the offensive pressure off Steph when it became evident Wiggins and Klay could not be consistently relied upon to do such. And EVEN THEN, Kuminga sat long stretches of games. He’s still extremely raw for a highly-touted player entering his 4th season. His offensive game has many flaws – his shots get blocked far too often for a player of his height and he needs to do a better job simply just protecting the ball near the basket. RIGHT NOW, if I were the Warriors brass, I’d scoff at even 30 per. I’m not kidding, Davey J! I love the position the Warriors are in – absolutely NO rush to pay this guy. If he turns the corner and there’s notable improvement in even just the basic fundamentals of basketball – and Kerr can finally trust him enough to REGULARLY play him 30+ mins a game – then see if both sides can meet in the middle on a contract. With that texted, I was more than ok with them giving up on Kuminga for Markkanen-hits-his-mark….AGAIN (until we saw how much Utah extended him for, I guess), and if there’s an opportunity to attain more of a sure thing come next February, then by all means…….nice knowin you, JK!
In the last 15 months, we’ve seen 11 rookie extensions worth more than $200M.
It’s got nothing to do with the agents, though. The dollars and durations are set by the CBA, and agreed to by owners and players’ union…not the agents. As in , these contracts are the realization of a well-known plan.
I can see how some would be offended by the size of the numbers. But, that’s the reality.
The numbers are not determined by the CBA. The max is. You can sign for anything less than that if you want and that’s where the agent’s negotiation comes in.
Gary , 100% agree that the agent’s role is huge, and you’re right in pointing out that my post suggested otherwise.
There is an interesting discussion to be had, however, about how the CBA, and all the cap, apron, rookie extension, and veteran extension rules dictate exactly how a roster is composed as far as player contracts. As in, there is a set of specific assumptions behind the plan not only about the requires size of every team’s payroll, but exactly how many players in the league are in each category of contract, each of which has set upper and lower bounds.
Viewed that way, it’s not so much a matter of agents maximizing their clients contracts as agents fighting for pre-allocated “slots”. Does that make sense?
Right and it’s way more complicated than my puny brain can understand. I am aware of the upper and lower team salary ceiling and floor. I did not know of the requirement for players in each of the “salary slots.” That’s new on me. But I learn something every day.
I actually figured the end result would be two Max contracts and maybe one perhaps two other high paid guys and then the rest of the team scrambling for the minimum deals or close to them. Yes it does make sense what you write and I appreciate you took the time.
Gary , I don’t mean to say that the CBA defines “slots” so much as that when you work backwards from all those numbers and rules that are defined, you see how predictable the contracts are. Starting with $175M, identify that small number of big contracts — veteran contracts have specified bounds, as do rookie extensions, mid-level extensions, etc Working from the other end, teams fill their rosters with minimum size contracts.
The CBA strictly specifies an agent’s draw: 4%. That’s $40k for every million to the player. The way the agents model is this: there are 30-45 slots for big “veteran” contracts, another 30-45 slots for rookie extensions over $25M, another 30 for > $10M MLE’s, etc. The top agencies compete viciously for those ~150 top players to fill those well paying slots. The remaining 300 players fight for the scraps, the minimum contracts which total about 1/5 the total.
BTW, Kuminga’s agent currently represents no player making more than $9M, and has about 5-7 clients. That agent is hungry. If he can increase Kuminga’s deal by $10M, that’s an extra $40k.
Okay that makes sense. I’m someone who hangs on Words and give people the benefit of the doubt, that what they say or write, is what they mean LOL.
I know of course that’s tough to do here on this website as we type out our opinions. Not everything is going to come out perfect in two paragraphs. And sometimes we have to explain ourselves, especially to those that love opposing us for no other reason than exactly that. LOL
I thank you for the grace you’ve given me as I do the same for you.
I think if they were worth the money being asked for, the warriors would pay it and usher in the next era of championship runs. Obviously someone in a talent to dollars evaluation position has apprehension about the future of these two players and the team’s ability to compete.
Druuu , I don’t think it’s apprehension. More than 1/2 of rookie extensions are signed after beginning of 4th year, and the better the team, the less likely it happens earlier. The more competitive the team, the more committed future cap space.
From, 2021, Kuminga’s draft year ,players drafted ahead of him.
Extended: Cunningham, Mobley, Barnes
Not extended: Green, Suggs, Giddey
Best performing player from that year, Sengun, is not extended.
If the aspirations are championship level, which is the recent historical standard for GSW, I don’t think Kuminga and Moody have been evaluated to be on that level of performance by the team decision makers. Otherwise they would be extended and the team would NOT be aiming for a spot in the play-in.
GSW would have been idiots to give JK an early extension at anything close to max. Maybe with the newer Apron rules, FO’s are finally reading some of the older rules in the CBA, e.g., RFA and max contracts.
DXC ,
You know your stuff.
Do you agree that there is no scenario in which the Warriors don’t retain Kuminga? As in, do you agree that even if the Warriors and Kuminga can’t come to terms before Kuminga tests the market, the Warriors will match the best offer that he receives?
Im not DXC obviously, so I hope you don’t mind if I give my input, but how about sign and trade?
Yes, as long as they want to retain him, then there is no scenario under which they won’t. Worst case is they have to overpay him to retain him, i.e., he doesn’t play to a max level but can still command max in the market. But that’s not a reason to commit to overpaying him now.
Gary , entirely possible that the Warriors could decide there is a price that is too high, and then sign Kuminga in order to trade him to that team. (With the caveat that I don’t know anything about sign and trade restrictions in this circumstance.)
My point was that there is no way, as some on this thread suggest, that the Warriors would tell Kuminga to walk. That would only happen if the Warriors had no cap space to maneuver in, but we all see how they have set themselves up to have that room come next June.
(Assuming they can’t move Wiggins, that still leaves Looney, GP2 and, if necessary, Melton and Moody to be released, which is about $35M. Add to that the > $10M expected increase to the cap. Then consider Kuminga’s current salary is $7M. There is plenty of room to sign and keep Kuminga or trade him for equivalent value.)
Yes exactly there’s no way they just let him walk. That’s a bad business decision.
But I also know that you cannot sign and trade a guy to the team who signed him as a restricted free agent. You’d have to sign and trade him to another team.
Hopefully I have that right unless they changed that rule in the last few years.
Gary , you’re right about that sign and trade restriction. Most likely, the signing will happen before that time, and the trade well after.
(Assuming Kuminga is not traded, which you seem to believe the Dubs are trying to do, here is the situation/
85% chance of this: in the next 3-4 months, the Warriors and Kuminga/agent will agree to his market value at the end of the season, and sign a deal. It won’t matter whether the Warriors or anybody on this board believes the number is $20M too high. Like all NBA teams, the Warriors will make that move to control their asset, enabling them to exercise their right to retain or exchange it at any time in the future.
15% chance: the 2 teams, after failing to agree, wait untl the end of the swason