Jonathan Kuminga and the Warriors are nearing their end point. The former No. 7 pick of the 2021 draft has only played in five games since Nov. 14, and he's widely expected to get moved soon.
Kuminga simply doesn't fit well in Steve Kerr's system. The team knew it when they gave him a two-year, $48.5 million deal with a team option on the second year. As part of that contract, Kuminga had to waive an automatic no-trade clause, making it easier to deal him on Jan. 15 when he becomes trade-eligible.
Now that the Warriors are able to move him, a trade should be coming shortly. His market isn't particularly robust. He hasn't had a good year, and his defensive and feel issues have become all the more prominent. He does have some promise though as a bully ball scorer who can get to the line a ton.
The Kings are the only team who have been mentioned so far as serious suitors. The issue is that they don't have veterans who the Warriors want back. That makes a three-team trade the most likely outcome. Here is the one that makes the most sense, giving Golden State one last gasp at building something special around Stephen Curry.
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Jonathan Kuminga Kings trade
The Warriors need some more offensive firepower around Curry and Jimmy Butler. Their young players haven't developed enough, and they're missing that electric shooting next to Curry that Klay Thompson provided back in their championship days.
Those types of All-Stars aren't available often, and certainly not at the price that Golden State can afford. Michael Porter Jr. Is the exception. He's playing well enough to make his first All-Star team this year. Here's how to get him on the Warriors.
- Warriors receive: Michael Porter Jr., Keon Ellis, Tyrese Martin
- Kings receive: Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Buddy Hield
- Nets receive: Zach LaVine, Devin Carter, 2026 first round pick (via Warriors), 2028 first round pick (via Kings)
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Why Warriors say yes
Not many people are paying attention to the Nets, who are one of the bottom five teams in the league. MPJ's massive development has thus gone under the radar. He's always been a terrific jump shooter. That hasn't changed — he's hitting close to 40 percent of his 3's.
What has changed is everything else. Porter is averaging a career-high 26 points per game in a much larger role than the one he had as a complementary player to Nikola Jokic. He's proving that he can be the No. 1 scoring option on a team.
Porter's not a great defender, but he does have 6-foot-10 height that the perpetually undersized Warriors could use. He's rebounding the ball well, as he always has.
The big change to his game is that he's actually passing the ball. In Denver, he was a black hole. In Brooklyn, he's averaging a career-high 3.4 assists per game and carrying the Nets to way more wins than that roster deserves.
Golden State badly needs that offensive juice. It falls apart whenever Curry is off the floor. Porter could carry those minutes, as he has in Brooklyn. He is also one of the rare elite scorers who has shown that he is more than capable playing off the ball, as he did while helping the Nuggets to the 2023 title.
Keon Ellis would also be a great add. He's the one player on the Kings who is intriguing. Ellis is a terrific perimeter defender who gets a ton of steals and raises a team's ceiling. He hasn't played nearly enough in Sacramento, much to the chagrin of their fans. He's not a good shot creator, but playing on the Warriors would hide that particular weakness.
The cost here for the Warriors isn't too bad. Kuminga doesn't hold much trade value. Moses Moody is a good role player who doesn't play huge minutes. Buddy Hield's hot-and-cold play has been mostly cold this year. And that 2026 pick should be somewhere in the late teens or early 20's.
Porter wouldn't be worth this price a year ago, when he was seen as overpaid. He has proven increased his value, and this is a good opportunity for a 27-year-old talent who could lead the next great Warriors team after Curry is gone.
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Why Kings say yes
The Kings need to break up their team. As Zach LaVine recently told Dunc'd On's Nate Duncan about their roster, "The music, if that's what you guys are going for, you can have the most talented people in the world, but if the guitarist and the violin guy, and then somebody that is orchestrating, and somebody on the saxophone, if they are all not playing in the same key, it ain't going to sound like music. It is going to sound like a bunch of instruments playing."
Sacramento would love to be off LaVine's deal, which will pay him $49 million next year if he opts into the final year of his contract as is widely expected. That contract does not hold positive value, which explains why the Kings would have to give up a 2028 first round pick to the Nets.
As for the other pieces involved, Devin Carter was a 2023 lottery pick but hasn't been able to carve out a role for himself. Ellis hasn't played a huge role either. Sacramento could easily afford to part ways with those three players.
The Kings would get two young prospects back to begin to retool their roster. Kuminga could finally get a chance for a bigger role, carrying much more of the offensive load than he did with the Warriors. Moody could also get more minutes on a Sacramento roster that is starved for capable two-way players. This would also foster a reunion with old friend Buddy Hield, who had his best scoring years there.
This is Sacramento's best shot at getting Kuminga while also shedding LaVine's contract. Ellis and a first round pick is a fair price to pay.
Why Nets say yes
When the Nets first acquired Porter, the plan was to try and move him later in the year. That may have changed given how well he's played. He's young enough that they could keep him and try to re-sign him as a focal point of their team. If they were to move him, then they'd have to get a very good offer in return.
This package is precisely that. The Kings' 2028 pick should be a good one. Sacramento probably won't be able to rebuild fast enough to get out of the lottery by then. The Warriors pick won't be quite as juicy, but this is a good draft class and the Nets should be able to find a rotation player with a pick in the middle of the first round.
The players that the Nets are getting back aren't too shabby either. LaVine doesn't have much of a market right now due to how much he's paid, but he is inarguably a great scorer. Brooklyn could use the same strategy that they used with Porter, trying to rehabilitate his value and flip him next year when he's on an expiring contract. And Carter has only been in the league for two years. He still has some value as a reclamation project.
Possibly the biggest reason why the Nets say yes to this trade is that Porter has been too good for them. They were supposed to be the worst team in the league and have a great shot at landing one of the three stars in the 2026 draft. Porter has dragged them to too many wins. In trading him, they would be adding two picks, selling high on a player with injury risk, and increasing their chances at landing a franchise-changing talent this summer.
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