Warriors could make Jonathan Kuminga untouchable this summer

The Golden State Warriors are expected to have a busy summer. Joe Lacob has stated the franchise wishes to avoid the luxury tax. They have decisions to make regarding Klay Thompson and Chris Paul. The roster needs some tweaking if it’s going to contend for a championship next season.

When speaking on a recent episode of the “Willard & Dibs Show,” ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne noted how the Warriors would be unlikely to include Jonathan Kuminga in any potential trade negotiations. The explosive forward is coming off the best season of his young career and projects to be a future All-Star.

“They have a pretty good set of assets,” Shelburne said. “There’s some other good young players on the team outside a Kuminga. They have draft picks, they have Wiggins, they have Gary Payton II. Thay have a lot of a lot of options there. They have a lot of optionality and decent contracts. And then there’s also the blue chip, which is Chris Paul. That contract is very interesting for a lot of teams for a lot of reasons. Now the Warriors could certainly just keep him and take the savings themselves. But that’s a great trade asset for a lot of teams.”

Kuminga played in 74 regular season games for Steve Kerr’s team. He averaged 16.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists, shooting 52.9% from the field and 32.1% from 3-point range. His explosiveness also gave the roster a legitimate rim threat, which added a new dimension to the rotation.

Golden State has been straddling two timelines in recent years. Now, as the veteran core of Steph Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green enter the final stages of their career, young talents such as Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski will get an opportunity to step up. However, if trade opportunities present themselves, Mike Dunleavy Jr., will likely explore all the options at his disposal.

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