Warriors Linked to Intriguing Trade With Western Conference Rival
The Golden State Warriors have been rather silent during the 2025 NBA offseason, and much of that is due to their sticky situation with Jonathan Kuminga. Could the Phoenix Suns change that?
A restricted free agent, Kuminga remains unsigned, and the deeper we get into the offseason, the more complicated things become for both sides. Does Kuminga ultimately head back to the Warriors on a one-year qualifying offer? Does Golden State trade him? Or do both sides eventually agree to a long-term contract (or maybe the two-year offer the Dubs already provided for him)?
Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey outlined some potential scenarios for Kuminga with NBA training camp inching closer and closer, and one of his outcomes involved a trade with the Suns.
“The two teams most commonly connected with Kuminga this summer have been the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. So, they land one spot above the wild cards by virtue of the ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire’ theory of NBA player movement,” Bailey wrote.
The Suns make perfect sense for Jonathan Kuminga
Phoenix has gone nuclear this offseason, trading Kevin Durant and also cutting ties with Bradley Beal, signaling a massive retooling period around Devin Booker (who just signed an extension).
Taking that into consideration, the 22-year-old Kuminga would represent a very intriguing addition for the Suns, who still need to add some prime young talent around Booker and Jalen Green.
Of course, cost matters. Even after moving Durant and Beal (the latter of which came via a contract buyout), Phoenix still does not have a whole lot of financial wiggle room, which could make things dicey when it comes to swinging a sign-and-trade deal for Kuminga.
In theory, Kuminga makes perfect sense in the desert. He’s young, he’s talented and the Suns would be able to build around a Booker-Green-Kuminga trio. It actually looks very enticing on paper. But it’s not going to be all that simple for Phoenix to pull this off.
Kuminga averaged 15.3 points and 4.6 rebounds over 24.3 minutes per game last season on 45.4/30.5/66.8 shooting splits. Obviously, his percentages weren’t pretty, but the former No. 7 overall pick has enough potential to overlook his sudden lack of efficiency.
Perhaps the Warriors will end up reaching an agreement with the young forward in the coming weeks, realizing how valuable he can possibly be to them moving forward. But Golden State also has a very unenviable financial situation that makes all of this exceedingly tricky.
