Western Notes: Kuminga, Warriors, Fox, McDermott, Thunder

Warriors forward Draymond Green has high expectations for teammate Jonathan Kuminga as the 22-year-old enters his fourth NBA season, per Joaquin Ruiz of NBC Sports Bay Area. Asked by NBC Sports Bay Area’s Kerith Burke what would make the season an individual success for Kuminga, Green replied, “All-Star.”

What, specifically, does Kuminga have to do to earn his first All-Star berth?

“Score the basketball,” Green said. “(He) has to be a great scorer. He needs to be above 20 points per game, six (or) seven rebounds a night, and we need to win. Especially if you want to become a first-time All-Star. We know what he’s capable of and we believe in him. … Anything less than an All-Star is a failure for him.”

Kuminga remains eligible to sign a rookie scale extension up until Monday at 5:00 pm Central time, but a Friday report indicated that he and the Warriors are still “far apart” in negotiations and that the former No. 7 overall pick is comfortable with the idea of betting on himself in 2024/25. If Kuminga ends up not getting an extension in the coming days, an All-Star season would certainly go a long way toward securing him a significant payday as a restricted free agent next summer.

We have more from around the Western Conference:

• The Warriors announced this week (via Twitter) that they’ll honor the late Jerry West with a “JW” decal on their home court at Chase Center throughout the 2024/25 season.
• Speaking to Sam Amick and Anthony Slater of The Athletic, Kings guard De’Aaron Fox expressed a desire to remain in Sacramento for his entire career, but stressed that he wants to be sure the team will be “competing at a high level” and “not just fighting for a playoff spot.” While Fox may end up signing an extension during the 2025 offseason, the prospect of him reaching unrestricted free agency in 2026 remains a possibility if this season doesn’t go as planned for the Kings, sources tell Amick and Slater.
• Doug McDermott‘s one-year contract with the Kings is worth the veteran’s minimum and features a $750K partial guarantee, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. The deal, which would pay McDermott approximately $3.3MM for the full season and will count for about $2.09MM against Sacramento’s cap, will become fully guaranteed if the veteran sharpshooter isn’t waived on or before January 7.
• Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman (subscription required) considers what Isaiah Hartenstein‘s absence will mean for the Thunder in the first few weeks of the season, noting that the team was already dealing with frontcourt injuries to Jaylin Williams and Kenrich Williams and will have its depth tested in the early going. ​​“We got a great group of guys with Hartenstein and without,” Aaron Wiggins told reporters on Thursday. “Obviously the anticipation of playing with him and Alex Caruso and guys like that was high, but good things come to those who wait. We’ll get better and kind of find things with his absence, but when he returns we’ll be just as fluid and probably ready to go at that point.”
• The Thunder experienced another injury scare on Thursday night when Jalen Williams rolled his ankle against Atlanta and exited the game early. However, sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link) that Williams’ left ankle sprain is “not severe.”