Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, who sustained a right ankle sprain on January 4 and has missed the past 11 games, will be out for at least two more weeks, the team announced in a press release (Twitter link).
According to the Warriors, Kuminga was recently reevaluated. He’s making good progress in his recovery and will start light on-court individual workouts in the next week, but he won’t return to action until after the February 6 trade deadline.
Anthony Slater of The Athletic reported a few days ago that Kuminga was still weeks away from returning, so Golden State’s announcement is more of a confirmation than anything new.
“He’s not close to coming back,” head coach Steve Kerr said of Kuminga on Saturday, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “He’s on a bike just now. He’s not been on the court in any other capacity other than just shooting stationary shots. So it’s going to be some time.”
It’s unfortunate news for the 22-year-old, who was playing his best basketball of the season prior to the injury, averaging 24.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.0 steal in the six games leading up to Jan. 4. Kuminga will be a restricted free agent in the offseason.
On a more positive note on the injury front, Draymond Green is now considered day-to-day following his own reevaluation. The former Defensive Player of the Year has missed the past four contests with a left calf strain, but he has been doing some light on-court work recently and will soon begin practicing.
Hate all the tank talk but watching GSW this just isn’t the year and nothing on the trade market is going to change that
~I’m not jeopardizing Curry’s health if and when it comes time for him to rest
~I’m not putting future assets into this year
They will have quite a bit of mobility in the summer to gauge their best path
Probably why they haven’t made a trade yet. Making a desperation trade feels like a bad idea since they would not be in a position of power
They have a little buying power with the DS Looney Payton expiring’s there’s just not a player worth it on the market to go after at a decent price point
They can trade for a guy like Vu from Chi rather easily but I think similar players like Capela Adams BLopez will be avail for half Vu’s price next year for free to them.
Get a 2nd back for Dennis and call it a day, perhaps there’s even a path to slip the tax this year if they really work the phones hard w/out giving up anything worthwhile. That be a successful deadline Imo for GSW
DS cant be traded till the day before the deadline and has been hot garbage. They wont make a deal until DS is eligible to be traded again.
warriors will do something but nothing major. They could go for some second round picks back. Most likely traded will be Looney which some clubs might be willing to give up a 2nd rounder for. Other thing might be part of a multi team deal for Butler since the warriors do have some expiring contracts that are appealing to Miami and warriors pick up a young player for them.
Or GSW is saving up for Giannis or KD. Moody’s poison pill contract means he becomes a big chip in a package deal for a star at the end of season, not this deadline, but at end of the year he can even traded 1-1 for an expiring star like Sabonis or D-Fox.
Extend Kuminga, then trade him, Moody and Wiggins for a max contract Giannis or KD. That’s the offseason plan, imo. The midseason plan is apparently just vibes.
Bucks are not trading Giannis. Suns are not trading KD. They have the likelihood of being traded as much as Curry will be.
Problem is Curry’s getting older and “this isn’t the year” doesnt bode well with whatever time Curry has left. Imo the front Office has done a bad job, too many wings and few if any bigs, although I am not a warriors fan and see things from the outside and I guess things are not that simple.
It is easy to say the Warriors need a big, or two. But, it is far harder to find ones that actually make a difference, and are relatively inexpensive. The Warriors don’t have that much cap space. You just can’t throw out any old 7-footer. They are also much harder to develop.
Who’s tanking? Only posters on here saying that nonsense. GSW is in buyer mode, not seller.
There’s rough patches and scheduling to every teams season, GSW just had their worst run of facing on-fire, full strength teams, while they were out of sorts due to injuries and bad rotations directed by Kerr, who is bad at making rotations.
Only thing that matters when you have Curry is playing your best team hoop the month before the playoffs. Steph will lead you from there. GSW still has plenty of time to play .500 and get right. I believe they can.
Your going to have to pick a lane, we are not playing Candyland
You can’t buy today and then also get a KD or GA in the summer.
Your purse doesn’t overflowth quite that much
Does any sane person believe that KD wants to return to the Warriors? Why would Giannis want to leave the Bucks?
Davey, I am a poster who says the Warriors have decided to tank. It’s over, and I’ll say it again.
The Warriors are tanking.
Kuminga out with a spring ankle for a month and a half? If the Warriors were any good and going for it, he’d be playing.
Quickie side note, I hope you like the return for Jonathan Kuminga…, Because he is HISTORY !!
Not tanking but hoping once they are back at full health they can make a run for the playoffs. They been missing Kuminga more than anyone thought they would. Just stay close for the next 2 weeks then a run after all star break.
@arc89 – most sensible take in this thread by a long way.
I still stand by my “never count a Curry+.500 team out” general statements made in this thread.
Even with Kuminga playing, the offense has suffered. They went from #3 at the start of the season to #20 now. They are 1-20 when the are behind after 3 quarters. Not the signs of a championship team.
Lots of bad coaching by Kerr. insisting on playing Heild who is just terrible when you have better options. The zone defense has killed them and Kerr has not answer to it. Play Post in starting line up against teams with good centers so it makes the center play away from the basket.
Cam Johnson, Chris Boucher, Clint Capela, Bruce Brown are all available players that make sense and are definitely worth Podz
Brabo, I think they would’ve done that if the Dennis Schroder acquisition was successful.
I think they would’ve added another guy and taken their chances. But since Dennis Schroder did not work, I think they’re calling it a day.
They suck right now. They’re nicked up right now. And the veterans they picked up this summer have not plugged the holes necessary to grab a 6 seed.
Anyone saying they should go for the play in is not offering good advice in my opinion.
The goal is not the play in. The goal is a four to 6 seed. You lose a play in game and you’re going home and you could’ve tanked.
If everything is clicking and you hit the 6 seed, anything can happen.
The Warriors are not that team right now.
One guy or two vets is not going to make that happen since Dennis flamed and burned to the ground.
It’s over.
Brabo said –
> Cam Johnson , Chris Boucher, Clint Capela, Bruce Brown are all available
> players that make sense and are definitely worth Podz
Really? As part of a deal for Cam Johnson, maybe. But nobody trades a 21-year old, $4M/yr, First-Team All-Rookie Podz for over-the-hill, overpaid bench players like Boucher ($11M), Capela ($23M), and Brown ($23M).
Podz had a bad Nov and Dec, but he also had 2 concussions during that time. Since then, he’s been much better. In his last 3 games, since returning from injury 5 days ago:
– 3 pointers: 9-for-21 (he’s been shooting 44% in 2025)
– 10 pts in 20 mins, 17 pts in 26 mins, 20 pts in 31 mins
– plus/minus: +19, +9, +22
Kerr said today that “since he’s been back, Brandin has probably been our best all-around player.” That’s not saying much, but it’s not nothing.
Take a look at how inconsistent almost all NBA stars were in their 1st or 2nd years.
I cant wait to see how well this team plays after they add Vucevic for either Lindy or Payton + a 2nd rder and then get the whole team back fully healthy. If they can become a cohesive unit in the next month, they can make the WCF and then anything can happen like injuries and bad calls…
Not many saying this. You all know who did first, when everyone was jumping ship…never ever count Steph Curry out…
I guarantee you that trade does not happen, will not happen, and should not happen.
It’s over my brother. And don’t worry about Steph Curry. He looks great this season it’s just all the double and triple teaming. He’ll be solid again next season and they’ll make a run. He can still lead a team.
We shall see, brother, we shall see…
Gary, to make a run next year, Warriors would have to close a giant gap with OKC — about 22-26 wins at the end of this season. Every OKC player, other than Caruso, should be better next year. They’ve got at least 4 firsts in this draft, etc, etc. You could add Lauri Markkanen and Paul George to GSW without giving up anything, and we’d still be 12 losses behind.
The window for the Warriors and a bunch of other Western Conference teams is shut for the next 2-3 years, just like the window slammed shuton all the other W. Conf teams when the Warriors landed KD eight years ago. Steph, Kerr, Dunleavy, Lacob, etc all see this.
We won’t see Warriors, Lakers, Clippers, Pels, etc trading away youth or first rounders. It’s about staying respectable on the court and planning the next cycle.
I agree with some of the things you’ve written here Ari.
But I would never say the door is shut the next few years because injuries happen. Yes the Warriors went to a bunch of finals, but only won four in 15 years.
And then KD got hurt and Klay got hurt and KD only stayed three years.
Anything can happen. but this year it ain’t gonna happen. No way no how.
So Trade every single person not named Curry for draft picks and promising young guys. Then go to work this summer and build your team with a mix of veterans and young guys.
Trade well draft well and give it a shot. The good thing is they signed these veterans this last summer and stayed below one of the lines that was important. I think from what I understand they can go all out next summer?
I’m optimistic for next year, especially after watching Curry light it up again this year. He’s amazing now and he’ll be amazing next year.
Ari, to close the gap with OKC next year it’s not quite a climb of 22 to 26 wins.
It’s 4 wins and that’s all it will take.
> It’s 4 wins and that’s all it will take.
Gary, ok, then, how do you figure the gap is only 4 wins?
I”m going by present record. OKC is projected to win ~67 games this season, and we’re projected to win ~41. That’s 25 games.
Let’s say that, actually, we’re a little better and they’re a little worse relative to these numbers.
It’s only four wins because if you consider next year, the OKC thunder are the number one seed and then the Warriors slide in as the eight seed, all they need is four wins, and the gap has been closed. Warriors move on, OKC goes home.Makes sense?
One more thought on OKC. They’re going to have to start paying these guys and not all of them are going to make the cut.
They don’t have money growing on trees like the Lakers Knicks Warriors, maybe Mavericks. It’s OKC. They have a gas station as their logo on their jersey. They can’t pay everyone. I went to a game last year and wanted to buy the cheapest ticket and it was $ 7.50. It included a beer hotdog and french fries lol.., just kidding of course. Sorry.
Bottom line OKC may win this year and or next, but it’ll be over for them soon as well. They may have a Jimmy Butler in the making somewhere on that roster who’s too young to speak his mind right now, yet wants to get paid soon and get paid big.
Gary, good stuff. My thoughts:
1. Agreed OKC has only 1.5 years before the CBA rules force them to let some good players go, just like BOS wil have to this summer. Starting in the 2026-27 season, they can carry 3 huge contracts: SGA, Chet, and Williams, and not much more. It’s scary to accept, but they will also about 9 extra first round picks over the next 5 years…
2. A true GSW rebuild like you’re describing takes 3-4 yrs to get back to contention. Let’s assume this is year 1, and we start trading away all assets immediately and tankning. We’d need to tank at least 1 more year, possibly 2, to get obtain more high picks. By year 3 you’re a playoff team, and year 4 you’re a contender. OKC hit their year 4 last year, HOU and ORL this year, DET and Spurs next year. The obvious point:. Steph is gone by end of year 3.
3. There is an alternative to a “full rebuild”: cut the rebuild down to 2 years by keeping and playing the young core of Podz, Kuminga, and TJD (along with a couple of Santos, Post, and Moody), and attempting to to add a couple of young stars. That may mean tanking this season. It definitely means trading Draymond while he still has value. It definitely means getting a new coach right away. It might benefit from Steph’s last season.
I believe the Warriors are looking at 3., the fast rebuild, not 2., the full rebuild.
Vucevic is TRASH can yall please stop manifesting him in Golden State
How is vuch trash? A big who can spread the floor and been nothing but consistently good his whole career. Vuch will unlock Kuminga and give Steph a different look too.
Copium strikes again