Sources: Kuminga still declining Warriors' terms

The Golden State Warriors made different propulsion to clasp Jonathan Kuminga implicit the past respective days, but the restricted escaped cause is continuing to diminution their two-year, $45 cardinal declaration offer, sources told ESPN connected Wednesday.

Kuminga's determination is owed successful ample portion to the Warriors' insistence connected having a squad enactment for the 2nd play and their unwillingness to fto him support the built-in no-trade clause, sources said.

His agent, Aaron Turner, presented the Warriors a fewer frameworks during a brace of summertime league meetings successful Las Vegas, including a three-year woody worthy astir $82 cardinal that allowed the Warriors to enactment beneath the 2nd apron to usage the payer midlevel exception.

Kuminga and Turner person utilized July to research their sign-and-trade options. The astir important negotiations person been with the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns, getting proposals up to 4 years approaching $90 cardinal total, including a subordinate enactment for the last season, sources said. Phoenix has made the astir lucrative propulsion via sign-and-trade.

The Warriors person been uninterested successful the commercialized returns from the Kings and Suns for Kuminga, sources said. In caller days, they person begun signaling a program to chopped disconnected sign-and-trade conversations entirely, utilizing their restricted escaped bureau leverage to the fullest, sources said. Their existent stance is that Kuminga volition beryllium connected the Warriors' roster to statesman adjacent play -- either done their two-year connection connected the array oregon the lasting $7.9 cardinal one-year qualifying offer, whichever is Kuminga's preferred path.

Kuminga prefers the longer-term offers presented by the Kings and Suns due to the fact that helium believes they signify a caller start, a larger guaranteed role, a promised starting presumption and a greater level of respect and vocation control, shown successful portion done the subordinate option, sources said. Phoenix's connection is besides astir $70 cardinal much guaranteed than the Warriors' offer.

Kuminga told ESPN past week that helium is successful nary unreserved to determination guardant with a woody with the Warriors.

This continued stalemate is mostly astir control, and the enactment quality is astatine the crux of it. Kuminga believes accepting the Warriors' two-year connection with a squad option, on with forfeiting commercialized veto rights, cedes excessively overmuch power to a franchise helium believes has stunted and strung his vocation on for 4 seasons, sources said.

The Suns and Kings person pitched Kuminga connected the benignant of defined relation that has eluded him with the Warriors. Golden State manager Steve Kerr made respective comments aft the Jimmy Butler commercialized that Kuminga's acceptable alongside Butler, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green made it hard to play him accordant large minutes. Sources said Kuminga is much enticed with the outer options portion viewing Kerr arsenic idiosyncratic who has made it wide determination is not a defined big-minute accidental each nighttime with the Warriors.

The Warriors, sources said, judge they person the champion connection connected the array for Kuminga due to the fact that of the highest starting wage ($21.7 cardinal adjacent play compared to $19.8 cardinal elsewhere) and the two-year squad enactment concept. The woody is purposefully structured to beryllium tradable travel Jan. 15, and if Kuminga's eventual tendency is to play elsewhere, it would let his adjacent squad to diminution the squad enactment and widen him. He would beryllium the fourth-highest-paid subordinate connected the Warriors adjacent play if helium accepted the offer.

Based connected the corporate bargaining agreement, the Warriors' projected one-plus-one declaration would person an inherent no-trade clause, arsenic Kuminga's adjacent squad wouldn't support his Bird rights. That would springiness Kuminga a level of power implicit his adjacent NBA home, should the Warriors determine to determination him. But the Warriors person requested that helium waive that implied no-trade clause, sources said, akin to what D'Angelo Russell did for his Lakers declaration successful the summertime of 2023.

That dialog haggle is different illustration of the ongoing tug-of-war for power of Kuminga's future. It's why, contempt the short- and semipermanent fiscal risk, Kuminga is expressing a willingness to perchance instrumentality the qualifying offer. He would beryllium declining astir $14 cardinal other adjacent play but would springiness himself an implied no-trade clause and a changeable astatine unrestricted escaped bureau adjacent summertime astatine 23 years old.

Kuminga has an Oct. 1 deadline to motion the qualifying offer.