Although the Warriors think Jonathan Kuminga has All-Star potential, they weren’t willing to sign him at this time to the kind of long-term rookie scale extension he was seeking without a more concrete belief that he’ll reach that level, writes Monte Poole of NBC Bay Area.
[RELATED: No Extension For Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors]
As Poole explains, no one on Golden State’s roster besides Stephen Curry is making $30MM+ per year and Kuminga was seeking a deal that was worth “well beyond that amount.” While the Warriors aren’t opposed to making that sort of commitment to the fourth-year forward, they want to see more from him this season before signing off on such a significant contract.
“He took a leap last season,” one source told Poole. “They want to see another one before they make that investment. He’s still under their control. If Kuminga has a strong season, I know they’ll take care of him.”
Without a rookie scale extension in place, Kuminga will be a restricted free agent in 2025, giving the Warriors the right to match any offer sheet he signs with a new team.
Here are a few more notes from around the NBA on the contract extensions that did and didn’t get done on Monday:
- Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link) provides the year-by-year breakdown of Corey Kispert‘s four-year, $54MM+ extension with the Wizards, which will be worth $13.975MM in each of the first two years, then $13.05MM in years three and four. As previously reported, the final year is a team option.
- Jalen Johnson‘s five-year, $150MM extension with the Hawks will have a flat structure, with $30MM annual cap hits, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
- As part of his extension with the Nuggets, Aaron Gordon picked up his $22.84MM option for 2025/26 rather than turning it down and getting a 40% raise (to $31.98MM) for that season. The Nuggets will be subject to the repeater tax and increasing tax rates next season, so the structure of the deal will allow them to save a projected $60MM in tax penalties for ’25/26, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
- Tony Jones and Sam Amick of The Athletic take a closer look at the impact of the Gordon extension, with Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth weighing in on why the team felt the need to get a deal done: “In many ways, Aaron is the heart and soul of the team. He does a lot of things on the floor that makes us go. The guys rally around him in the locker room, and now with this agreement, we can move forward as a unit. We are built as a team to go deep into the playoffs.”
- The Knicks made the best extension offer they could to Mikal Bridges prior to Monday’s deadline, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, New York was capped at approximately $61MM over two years due to extend-and-trade restrictions, whereas the team will be able to offer about $156MM over four years next offseason, so Bridges was always expected to hold off on a new deal.
- Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) takes a look at what’s next for some of the top players who didn’t sign rookie scale extensions by Monday’s deadline, including Kuminga and Bulls guard Josh Giddey, as well as highlighting a few of the notable veterans who remain eligible to sign extensions during the season, like Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert and Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram.
Some agents like Kuminga agent think because one player gets a huge contract they should get one too. Kuminga has shown flashes of a all star but not for one that deserves a huge contract.
… yet.
I like this line in the article above because I think it’s true and it’s been proven the last ten or 15 years.
“He’s still under their control. If Kuminga has a strong season, I know they’ll take care of him.”
It is smart to wait on JK. He is the youngest player seeking a rookie scale extension. A bit more maturity to establish his market would be a good thing.
Giants74 , what do you mean by “wait on JK?”
Do you believe the reports that they offered him ~$30M are false?
Why am I supposed to find those reports important? It is quite common for free-agents-to-be to wait until the end of the season.
The knock on Poole coming out of college is that lacked maturity, and lost focus easily. His extension was largely based on one season.
It looks like Kuminga has graduated to the starting lineup. Let him prove he belongs.
If he does have the break out year the warriors will match whatever offer comes his way. Not many teams will have money to give him a big offer.
I think if GSW wins the title this year or comes close with JK as the 2nd best player on the team, then JK will get the max.
arc89 , you’ve been consistent for months in your position that there is a scenario where the Warriors will decline to match an offer to Kuminga from another team.
And I’ve continued to ask you to explain what you mean. NBA teams don’t operate that way. If the Warriors don’t like Kuminga, they will match and, eventually, trade him for assets that fit better.
Only 1 question really matters. Will he be still on the team a year from now? Is that what he and/or the team want? Let’s hope he gets off to a great start and make that great leap we all want from him.
That’s two questions.
I think so Michol. He’s not an 18-year-old kid anymore. One of my biggest requirements for a All-Star is, can you give him the ball on the wing and expect a bucket in crunch time? Kuminga showed he can do that this preseason.
As he continues to work and opposing teams put better Defenders on him this will show his value more and more. Hard work plus his athleticism can go a long way now that he’s maturing.
I think Draymond Green got in his ear after a year two. You can’t just get by on a 40-in vertical and expect to get paid.
Actually, Kuminga does credit his best stretch of games last season after conversation he had with Green.
MIchol, if the Warriors decide they want to move off Kuminga (which I don’t foresee), the situation could play out as we saw with De’Andre Ayton.
After Phoenix matched Indy’s offer, it took 1 year to find the right deal (Portland/Milwaukee).
Teams take their time to exchange valuable assets.
I think Kuminga will be the centerpiece of the Dubs offer for Giannis.
arc89 , the Warriors reportedly offered Kuminga a $30M contract. A few weeks ago, you suggested that would never happen. Does $30M not qualify as a “huge” contract?
i said a max contract. He wants a much bigger contract than that. $30 million is very fair but he wants more.
When the team throws money at a guy like Draymond they expect the front office to be suckers…
Huh? I don’t understand why you keep making these comments about Draymond. They play better and win with him in the lineup. He is worth every penny.
arc89 , we have come a long way in the last few weeks because you previously insisted that Kuminga would never be offered $30M because that would be the same as the Poole mistake. (I’m looking now at multiple posts of yours where you say this.)
Given that you now consider $30M to be “very fair” and not the “huge” contract that Kuminga wrongfully thinks he deserves, let me ask you this:
If Kuminga makes a modest improvement this season to, say, 19 ppg, do you think the Warriors will decline to match a $40/yr offer from another team?
Giants74 ,
Respectfully, I hope you’ll give my explanation a short read because it is the way all NBA teams and agents treat rookie extensions for in-demand players. This includes Kuminga and Poole.
The decision to sign is NOT based whether the player is in the team’s long-term plans (beyond the 4th year). A team will ALWAYS sign the in-demand player, even if the team intends to trade him later. The CBA conforms to that expectation, and business sense demands it.
GSW signed Poole after the 3rd year not because it decided Poole was in their long-term future, but because they believed the business terms and risk were preferable to what they’d face after his 4th season. As it happened, Poole’s value declined. But it could just as easily have increased with a great year, to say, $40M/yr. The Warriors front office did not “learn a lesson” in this experience. It did what all teams would do in the circumstances, understanding that the bet could be good or bad one. And would make the same decision again.
The Warriors did not wait to try to sign Kuminga. They offered him what they believe is his fair market value, roughly the same as Suggs, JJohnson, JGreen, Murphy, etc
Here is the critical point you are missing: the Warriors intend to sign Kuminga after his 4th season regardless of how well or badly he plays this year. Not signing him now at his asking price doesn’t reflect GSW’s assessment of Kuminga, but, rather that GSW believes it can pay less than the current asking price in 9 months.
Teams don’t automatically sign players to an extension. Giddey is in Chicago’s longterm plans, and he didn’t sign an extension. Poole was never going to get $40 million a year. He had long standing issues with maturity, focus, defense, and turnovers. GMs were polled and they believed Poole should have been allowed to become an RFA. Besides, what is the harm? Kuminga has said he isn’t bothered by it. He knows it is a business decision.
Giants74 , you are obviously an intelligent person, but you continue to respond without reading what I have said.
You have a fundamental misunderstanding. I’m trying to spell it out for you carefully to save you from making the same mistake in your future posts.
I’ll repeat: There is no record of an NBA team NOT signing an in-demand player eligible for a rookie extension after the 4th year. Giddey is certain to be signed AFTER his 4th year by Chicago, as is Kuminga by the Warriors. To not sign them would be like lighting $200M of cash on fire.
The Warriors tried to sign Kuminga for fair market value. He wanted more. Now, both sides have bet that they will be in a better position in the negotation 9 months from now. Similarly, the Warriors never imagined they would not sign Jordan Poole after year 4 if he hadn’t signed after year 3.
I think you are a bit confused. I have only been talking about signing extensions before the start of their 4th season. Poole had to many red flags to sign a huge extension early. Letting him reach RFA would have been cheaper. By not signing early, Kuminga can establish himself as a starter and boost his value. The Warriors have said they want this. It doesn’t seem to bother Kuminga. He knows it is a business.
Giants74 , all good.
Eat each other alive until an outsider comments. Let’s get you all on the same page again. Dudes not worth $30, letalone significantly more. This all star talk is hilarious.
Who is being eaten alive? Why can’t Kuminga become an All-Star?
You all argue with yourselfs unless an outsider comments. Because he isn’t good enough. Not even a starter on his team. Only way Kuminga starts is through others being injured. Pretty hard to be an all star coming off the bench, no?
Nrg82, every one of your statements is provably incorrect.
In addition to have been proved wrong on your statement that Kuminga is performing statistically worse than the All-Stars you mentioned at similar stages of their career, you’re also wrong about Kuminga not being a starter.
He started 46 games last year, including 41 straight one he tooke over in mid-season, running up until he was injured with ~5 games remaining in the regular season.
In those starts, Kuminga averaged 21.5 ppg. Perhaps that’s not quite All-Start, but at 21 years old he’s knocking on the door.
Shouldn’t talk about things when you don’t know everything. Kuminga started quite often last season. Kuminga at the 4, with Wiggins at the 3, and they were successful. Kerr experimented with Wiggins at the 2, and Kuminga at the 3 during pre-season. Kerr liked it a lot and everyone expects him to be in the starting lineup come Wednesday.