Steve Kerr Reveals Whether He Thinks Kuminga Will Cause Locker Room Problems

The Jonathan Kuminga contract negotiations have finally come to an end. Kuminga signed a two-year, nearly $50 million contract with a team option in the second year. Kuminga’s camp was not happy with the Warriors’ offers and was looking for avenues to get Kuminga traded or have Kuminga take the qualifying offer in order to be able to leave the Warriors next year in free agency. The negotiations weren’t pretty.

Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner, could be to blame for some of the ill will that built up during the negotiations. The Warriors’ relationship with Kuminga has been a complicated one, and Turner’s media tour and veiled threats about Kuminga being willing to accept his role if the Warriors gave him the contract he wanted didn’t help matters.

Many were wondering whether Kuminga was going to enter the season without putting his best foot forward as a result of not getting the contract he was hoping for. Steve Kerr spoke at Warriors media day about this. 

“Kuminga is not the kind of guy to come in and tear a team down. We got a ton of depth, and we’ve got a lot of people who can play. You’ve got a lot of guys ready to step in. Jimmy instantly changed our team last year. Jimmy is an alpha. Steph and Draymond are alphas. They run that locker room. I’m not worried about anything.”

It sounds like Kerr is expecting his veterans to handle any issues. The Warriors have three of the most respected and revered veterans around the league on their roster. They should be able to get Kuminga on track and make sure that he isn’t the locker room cancer that some are worried he could be.