The Golden State Warriors are at a crossroads, and Jonathan Kuminga is right at the center of it.
While the team weighs up what to do with the restricted free agent, NBA insider Zach Lowe believes the decision could define Golden State’s long-term outlook.
“The other depressing thought about the Warriors as currently constructed,” Lowe said on his show. “Depressing but also like the most likely outcome by far to the end of a dynastic era, is that the two timelines thing has not happened. And the post-Steph future, despite all the talk about it, all the careful planning for it, several savvy picks like [Brandin] Podziemski, looks like a good pick for where he was drafted.”
Podziemski turned in a solid season with 11.7 points per game on 44.5 percent shooting.
Trayce Jackson-Davis also showed promise, but Lowe insists the real focus remains on Kuminga.
“Even a guy like [Trayce] Jackson-Davis looks like a good pick for where he was drafted,” Lowe continued. “Despite all of that, the post-Steph future looks incredibly bleak. The Kuminga transaction, whatever it is, to me is maybe the single most important franchise-building transaction that’s coming in the next two to three to four months in the NBA.”
He added, “And I just don’t see a world in which that transaction sets the Warriors up for a happier post-Steph future. Because I don’t think that’s going to be, we re-sign Kuminga and he’s a breakout star for us. I think it’s going to be a sign-and-trade in which the return is slightly underwhelming.”
General manager Mike Dunleavy has a franchise-altering decision on his hands this offseason, one that could shape the Warriors for years beyond the Curry era.
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