Trade Market For Young Warriors Forward Isn't As Hot as the Team Would Like

Golden State Warriors fans are counting down the days. January 15th is the first day that Jonathan Kuminga is eligible to be traded, and almost everyone in the organization, including Kuminga, wants a deal to be done as soon as possible. 

There have been Jonathan Kuminga trade rumors floating around for years. However, now it sounds like something is actually going to happen. There have been reports that multiple teams have shown interest in Kuminga, and the Warriors have been benching Kuminga for weeks in preparation for sending him to a new team. 

Even though there have been reports that multiple teams are interested, a recent report from NBA insider Jake Fischer indicates that the Kuminga trade market might not be as robust as the Warriors would hope. 

“Market on Kuminga is relatively cool... Kings definitely still have interest in Kuminga, but the Warriors haven’t had interest in Monk... Expect much more information to come out over the next week because actions are sparked by deadlines.”

When reports came out that there were up to five or six different teams interested in trading for Kuminga, some thought the Warriors could potentially extract a decent return for him on the trade market. However, this contradicts those reports a bit.

In the NBA trade market, lots of reporting is just about posturing. The teams that have a real interest in Kuminga want the Warriors to think they are the only ones pursuing him. The Warriors want the league to believe they have tons of offers for Kuminga so they can drive up the price. 

In the end, Kuminga will get traded, and it will be for less than the Warriors were hoping. The Warriors have always valued Kuminga more than other teams around the league. Still, getting him and his contract off the roster will be a positive thing for the team, no matter how good an asset they get in return.