After an entire offseason of updates and stalemates, Jonathan Kuminga is reportedly back with the Golden State Warriors.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday that Golden State and Kuminga agreed on a two-year, $48.5 million contract that features “a team option designed for the contract to be ripped up and renegotiated next summer.”
Charania and ESPN’s Bobby Marks added more context to the situation:
The contract will be added to the Warriors’ salary cap situation.
According to Spotrac, they are third in the league in total cap allocations heading into the 2025-26 season at $228.6 million. They also have -73.9 million in cap space and $13.8 million in 2025-26 tax space, per Spotrac.
Charania previously reported veteran big man Al Horford verbally committed to Golden State as well and would sign after the Kuminga situation.
That means Kuminga and Horford will join this roster, which will surely change some before the season opener on Oct. 21:
Golden State is firmly in win-now mode with a roster that features Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler and Horford as four of the main options. That means the 22-year-old Kuminga is something of an awkward fit timeline-wise, and he saw his role in the rotation change multiple times last season.
At his best, though, he is someone who can provide a scoring spark, defend multiple positions, contribute on the boards and attack the basket off the bounce.
Kuminga will need to improve his outside shooting some after connecting on 30.5 percent of his three-point attempts last season, especially since opposing defenses will surely leave him open at times as they deal with the Curry, Butler and Green combination.
He likely could have found a more significant role on a different team if he was moved this offseason, but speculation about a sign-and-trade began to slow after it became clear there wasn’t a robust market of enticing offers.
By staying with Golden State, Kuminga will remain in the middle of a potential title hunt in the Western Conference on a team with a number of veteran leaders. If he plays well in that environment, he could put himself in line for a bigger deal down the line.
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