The Golden State Warriors plan on extending the $7.9 million qualifying offer to Jonathan Kuminga this offseason, sources tell The Athletic. This will make him a restricted free agent and both sides are expected to explore sign-and-trade scenarios.
While Steve Kerr has struggled to give Kuminga consistent minutes and trust, the 2021 lottery pick remains a favorite of Joe Lacob. Lacob is unlikely to sign off on letting Kuminga leave the Warriors without something in return.
There is a real possibility of Kuminga remaining with the Warriors next season despite him being a repeated DNP-CD in several playoff games before injuries necessitated his return.
Kuminga, who is represented by Aaron Turner, averaged 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists during the 24-25 season. Kuminga’s fit in lineups with Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green have been clunky due to their collective lack of floor spacing. But there’s been talk of Kerr giving that three-man combination more time alongside Stephen Curry to figure out how to play with each other. Butler has also discussed working with Kuminga this offseason.
“There are certainly things he has to improve on, but he’s 22 years old,” Lacob said. “He’s got a hell of a lot of potential, and I would think he would be a part of our future plans. Now we’ll have to see how the market all shakes out. We have a lot of evaluating to do. Not me necessarily. But everybody — from coaching staff to basketball operations. We’ll kind of sit around and talk about how we want to construct the team for next year and what the situation is with respect to him.”
