The stalemate between the Golden State Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga features a new ripple virtually every day, with the latest coming with regards to how Kuminga values himself across the league.
Per Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle, Kuminga believes he’s on the same level as some of the NBA’s brightest young stars. Kroichick says that Kuminga believes he is worthy of earning a max level contract from Golden State.
“He apparently thinks he’s at the Cade Cunningham–Scottie Barnes level, where he should get that type of contract,” Kroichick said. “It’s really a quandary. I think it’s bad for the Warriors and bad for him.”
With all due respect to Kuminga, he isn’t quite at the level of Cunningham and Barnes, who are both All-NBA caliber players. Kuminga’s best season to date saw him average 16.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in the 2023-24 season, and while he has shown flashes of a potential star in the making, he isn’t there yet.
For what it’s worth, Cunningham is currently on a five-year, $269 million deal, and Barnes is on a five-year, $225 million contract, quite a hefty standard that Kuminga is setting for himself here.
The Warriors are hopeful they can come to a resolution with Kuminga soon, as the team has still yet to make a transaction of any sort. Once the Kuminga situation is solved, it’s safe to assume the Warriors will start to ramp up their offseason as they prepare for next season.