SAN FRANCISCO — After three months of contentious free agency negotiations, Golden State Warriors wing Jonathan Kuminga signed his contract in Cleveland on Tuesday night, flew to San Francisco on Wednesday and will join the team for practice on Thursday afternoon.
The next question looming over the Warriors will be about Kuminga’s immediate buy-in to the mission at hand — elevating the Warriors back to title contention before the end of the Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler era.
Coach Steve Kerr will be in charge of guiding Kuminga back into the fold. He reiterated twice after Wednesday’s practice that he has a fine personal relationship with Kuminga and doesn’t believe the player is the type “to come in and tear a team down.”
“Jimmy is an alpha,” Kerr said. “Steph and Draymond are alphas. They run that locker room. I’m not worried about anything.”
Kuminga spent the offseason searching for either a better contract or a sign-and-trade to a different team. He has made it clear he believes his career could flourish with more opportunities elsewhere.
But the dynamics of restricted free agency led him back to the Warriors on a two-year, $48.5 million deal that includes a team option on the second season and a 15% trade kicker. Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner, made it clear that Kuminga was seeking a player option.
Throughout the negotiations, both sides acknowledged the awkward fit with each other and ultimately landed on this contract structure because it is designed to be more easily moved come Jan. 15, when Kuminga will be trade eligible again.
“We feel like we have a player that can be really good,” general manager Mike Dunleavy said. “I don’t feel like there’s a need to make a move. Now, we’ll see how the season unfolds. This time last year I would have said we need to get better. I don’t feel that right now. It could change. We have a lot of guys in the team that have value around the league and could be traded, but I think the structure is more so what works for us and the player.”
Turner made many of the details of the negotiations public, including a 40-minute sit-down podcast with ESPN’s Hoop Collective that included the revelation of the transparent nature of the sign-to-trade contract.
Dunleavy said he would keep his own version of the negotiations “behind closed doors.”
“From my end, as a former player, understanding there’s a shelf life on your career, I’ve got no issues with guys doing whatever they can to get the deals they want,” Dunleavy said. “The money, the team, the role, all those things you’re looking for as a free agent. However you want to go about doing it, I have no issues. Would I do it that way? No. But I’ve got no issues. The offseason is time for business. During the season is time for basketball.”
Kerr was in contact with Kuminga during the process, checking in on him and ensuring the fifth-year forward that he would have an important rotation role upon return.
But Kerr, a former general manager in Phoenix, sat out of the contract portion of the conversations.
“I told [Dunleavy] there was a reason I hated being a GM,” Kerr said. “Those 92 days were a great example of that. I’d much prefer being a coach and letting management handle all the contract stuff.”
But now the job falls to Kerr, who has toggled Kuminga in and out of his rotation for four seasons. Kerr said he plans to have a long conversation with Kuminga in the coming days to discuss what transpired this summer, the basketball scars of the previous four seasons and what lies ahead.
“It may not be the contract he was hoping for, but that’s life-changing money,” Kerr said. “The whole idea is to get him to get better, help him become the player he can become and sign a few more contracts. That’s what he has to focus on and I have to focus on — the getting better part. That’s been the thing that’s held him back — what we need verse what he wants to do. There’s no denying that’s been an issue.”
