Warriors Predicted to Finally Part Ways With Former Lottery Pick

The Golden State Warriors are going to need to make some moves at the NBA trade deadline. They are currently fighting for a playoff seed in the hypercompetitive Western Conference, and they could use some reinforcements. With Jonathan Kuminga recently getting a DNP CD from Steve Kerr, the Warriors trade rumors around Kuminga have started amping up again.

Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report recently predicted “The 1 Player On Every NBA Team Most Likely To Be Traded,” and it was no surprise that Jonathan Kuminga was named that player for the Warriors. 

“If you had to bet on one player being moved this season, you could do a lot worse than choosing Jonathan Kuminga. He's almost certain to be gone once he's eligible on Jan. 15…The Warriors decided Kuminga can't be the role player they need, but another team could take a zero-risk flier on an athletically gifted forward who fancies himself as a first-option star.

Best case, that team gets a motivated and effective version of Kuminga for just $24.3 million next year. Worst case, that same team can offload veteran money on the Warriors, probably collect a pick and another young player, and then walk away clean in 2026–27.”

Everyone is expecting Kuminga to get shopped on Jan. 15. However, the Warriors have had Kuminga on the trade block for years and have yet to find a deal that they find satisfactory. 

Now that the Kuminga experiment has failed once again, will they be more motivated to make something happen? Warriors fans should certainly hope so. Keeping Kuminga to let him rot on the bench just doesn’t make sense.