SAN FRANCISCO — The contract stalemate between restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga and the Golden State Warriors will bleed into the basketball portion of the NBA calendar.
Kuminga did not travel to San Francisco this weekend and won’t be in attendance for Monday’s media day, league sources told ESPN. Golden State general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. made contact with Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner, on Sunday, but there’s no momentum toward a Kuminga contract or return prior to the team’s first practice on Tuesday.
The Warriors have kept their three outstanding offers on the table, sources said. The two most lucrative — two years, $45 million and three years, $75.2 million — include team options on the final season, and the only offer without a team option is for three years and $54 million.
Kuminga has been resistant to the deals with team options unless the money goes up. He has messaged to the Warriors that he would view a contract offer with a player option in it as a sign of goodwill after what his side has described as “years of confusion” about his role and an expectation he’d return to fluctuating opportunities under coach Steve Kerr and a likely midseason trade.
Kuminga’s greatest level of leverage in these negotiations is the one-year, $8 million qualifying offer, which expires on Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. ET. Kuminga would willingly be giving up $15.3 million extra next season, but it would provide him with an inherent no-trade clause and 2026 unrestricted free agency with at least 10 teams with salary cap space, putting the Warriors at risk of losing their No. 7 pick from the 2021 NBA draft for nothing next summer.
That’s a scenario the Warriors have attempted to avoid with their standing offers to Kuminga, but team sources have said they remain firm in their unwillingness to include a player option in any deal and expect Kuminga to either choose one of their proposed deals or return on the qualifying offer by Wednesday night. The dormant sign-and-trade talks with the Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings don’t have any current traction, sources said.
Because of the Kuminga situation, the Warriors have held up much of their roster business this summer. However, Golden State received a multiyear commitment from Al Horford on Sunday, his agent, Jason Glushon, told ESPN, and also agreed to terms with veterans Gary Payton II and De’Anthony Melton. Horford’s final contract number is dependent on the Kuminga resolution, so the presumed starting center won’t be able to sign or practice until that happens.
Melton’s and Payton’s availability for the first practice is to be determined.
With the signing of second-round rookie guard Will Richard, the Warriors have 13 committed roster players. Their plan is to make Kuminga the 14th, but he must decide on a contract path prior to Wednesday night’s qualifying offer deadline.
The Warriors also have had talks with Seth Curry, but Kuminga’s contract structure will determine whether they are able to add a 15th player and remain below the second apron.
