Basketball fans in the San Francisco Bay Area might get their last chance to say goodbye to Jonathan Kuminga when the Golden State Warriors host the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.
The No. 7 overall pick of the 2021 NBA draft, Kuminga has been a healthy scratch in each of the Warriors’ last 12 games as trade rumors surround the team.
Now in his fifth season, Kuminga, 23, reached a two-year contract extension with the Warriors in the offseason, guaranteeing him $22.5 million this season and giving Golden State the option to retain him for $24.3 million next year.
At the same time, by rule, the Warriors were prevented from trading him until Jan. 15, meaning he could be gone by the time the club takes the court to face the New York Knicks on Thursday night.
While some speculated that Kuminga’s recent benching was the result of a trade agreement that’s already in place — and others assumed it was a disciplinary move — Golden State coach Steve Kerr said that a recent ineffective four-game stint, which included a start at Cleveland, prompted the move.
“There’s no denying that he didn’t play as well as he had,” Kerr said on the club’s flagship radio station, 95.7 The Game in San Francisco. “Our team didn’t play as well, and so we decided to make a shift. That’s my job. It’s not that complicated.”
The Warriors have gone 8-4 since Kuminga last played. One of the losses came in their most recent outing, a 124-111 home defeat Sunday at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks.
Coincidentally, the Trail Blazers are the type of trade partner the Warriors could be engaging in Kuminga talks.
An athletic and young team that has stunned the veteran-laden Warriors three straight times this season, Portland might be interested in acquiring another young athlete at the expense of one of their veteran players — perhaps 35-year-old Jrue Holiday, 31-year-old Jerami Grant or 28-year-old Robert Williams.
Grant has missed the last 13 games with left Achilles tendonitis, but the forward is expected back soon. He had 35 points in a 136-131 home win over the Warriors in December.
Holiday (calf strain) returned from a 27-game absence to contribute eight points and four assists in 16 minutes during Portland’s 123-114 home loss to the Knicks on Sunday. The defeat snapped a five-game winning streak.
He recorded a 12-point, 11-assist double-double in Portland’s 139-119 win over the Warriors on Oct. 24.
The oft-injured Williams has played in 27 of Portland’s 40 games and one of his best efforts came against the Knicks on Sunday. The center made all five of his shots during a 12-point, four-rebound night.
Deni Avdija (26.1 points per game), Shaedon Sharpe (21.5 ppg), Toumani Camara (13.1 ppg) and Donovan Clingan (11.1 ppg, 10.7 rpg) have led the youth movement as the club has won seven of its last nine games.
Holiday sees the direction the franchise is taking as it attempts to finish off its first season-series sweep of Golden State since 2003.
“These guys are playing well and playing big minutes and winning big games,” he said. “This city is seeing how fun it is to watch us play.”
