Warriors' Jonathan Kuminga gets 100% honest on contract situation
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Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga has seen his role increase over the course of his young career, and now it’s almost time for the Warriors to give him his second contract. However, the two sides have not been able to agree on a deal as the NBA season rapidly approaches.
Despite the uncertainty, Kuminga is keeping his focus on what he can control on the court. He discussed his mindset surrounding his situation, courtesy of Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard.
“I haven't really got into it that much,” Kuminga said, per Kawakami. “I don't want to step my foot off track. I'm focusing on how can I be great? How can I help something? The better you play, the more you do things, everything's going to open up itself. So I'm not worried about things like that because I know who I am, I know myself. At the end of the day, it's just having an opportunity, a chance to go out there and prove. And just waiting for the moment. It's God's plan, so I'm not even tripping or thinking about it day to day. Whenever it happens, it's going to happen.
“Everybody's got their time when God opens their doors. My door isn't open yet. At some point it's going to be open. Obviously soon or anytime, I know they're going to be open. If you look at what other people are getting or doing or having, it's going to slow you down. So I'm not trying to slow down. Try to keep doing what I always do, you know?”
What would a new Jonathan Kuminga contract with the Warriors look like?
Jonathan Kuminga is currently set to play out the final year of his rookie contract as he and the Warriors have been unable to come to an agreement on an extension.
Kuminga is surely looking for the type of deal that fellow members of the 2021 NBA Draft class. Both Franz Wagner and Scottie Barnes, who were both selected ahead of Kuminga in the lottery that year, recently signed the full rookie max extension of five years, $224 million with their respective teams.
The Warriors have been unwilling to give that kind of deal to Kuminga, who is set to hit restricted free agency next summer if the two sides cannot reach a deal before then.
Putting a number on a potential Kuminga deal is difficult, as there’s not really a precedent outside of the top players from the class that have signed the rookie max extension. The second tier of players from Kuminga’s draft class — Jalen Green, Jalen Suggs, Jalen Johnson, etc. — are all sitting at the same impasse that Kuminga is.
While it doesn’t seem likely that Kuminga will go much lower than the rookie max AAV of nearly $45 million, the Warriors could negotiate him down to somewhere in the $30 million-$40 million range, which would allow Steve Kerr and Golden State to build a better supporting cast around Stephen Curry in his final years in the league.
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