It’s been almost a week since Jonathan Kuminga became trade-eligible. The former lottery pick reportedly “demanded” to be traded as soon as Jan. 15 arrived.
The team explored his trade market in the offseason, but to no avail, and it seems like the situation hasn’t changed much. According to Golden State Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr., the team hasn’t been able to trade Kuminga simply because no one is interested in his services.
There’s no trade market for Jonathan Kuminga
“As far as the demand, I’m aware of that. In terms of demands, when there’s a demand, there needs to be a demand on the market. So we’ll see how that unfolds,” Dunleavy told the media, per The Athletic’s Nick Friedell.
Kuminga is just 23 years old, has another year left on a team-friendly contract and has shown flashes of greatness as a two-way star. It’s hard to believe that no one is willing to roll the dice on a young player with that much upside. What may happen is that the Warriors overvalue him as a trade asset, but don’t value him enough as an actual player.
The Warriors played hardball when the Sacramento Kings wanted to poach him away. Then, they had him sitting on the bench and piling up DNP-CDs left and right.
The Warriors need to make up their mind about their disgruntled young forward. If he’s as good as they’re trying to convince other teams he is, they might as well play him.
If not, they must cut ties with him and put this story to bed once and for all. They can’t afford this type of distraction, much less after Jimmy Butler’s season-ending injury.