A Hall of Fame former Golden State Warriors All-Star has weighed in on Golden State power forward Jonathan Kuminga’s protracted restricted free agency situation.
During a new interview with Matt Moore of The Action Network, Hall of Fame former Warriors point guard Tim Hardaway Sr. unpacked the two sides’ fraught negotiations so far.
“It’s difficult for Kuminga. I know he doesn’t fit in their skin. After two or three years, you know you don’t fit, and you try to get a trade,” Hardaway said. “He’s gonna have to sign a one-year deal. He’s gonna have to go in there and play his [expletive] off.”
Kuminga, Warriors still at a standstill — but for how long?
Kuminga is reportedly pursuing a long-term contract that will pay him $20-30 million per season. With no solid sign-and-trade offers materializing, the Warriors instead want to ink him to a two-season, $45 million deal without a no-trade clause, meaning they can control where they would ultimately trade him.
Hardaway, meanwhile, believes the league’s new collective bargaining agreement is the ultimate culprit behind these restricted free agent cold wars we’ve seen all summer. So far, among the “Big Four” restricted free agents Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Cam Thomas, Chicago Bulls point guard Josh Giddey, Kuminga, and Philadelphia 76ers guard Quentin Grimes — only two have been signed. And only two weeks remain before the start of the NBA preseason!
“The majority of them didn’t wanna go that way, but they were persuaded to go that way because they were looking at the money that they were getting already,” Hardaway said of the CBA. “So now they understand that we messed up, we should not have done that collective bargaining agreement, so we could be this unrestricted free agent.”
Hardaway supports Kuminga sticking around, while offering that he’s a solid player deserving of more opportunity. The 22-year-old may at least be a frustrating watch (as evinced by his meandering 3-point shooting stats), but his downhill athleticism, size and length make him a tantalizing prospect.
“He’s going to have to make it where either they’re gonna trade him or they are not gonna trade him. That’s the only thing I can say. But I think he’s a good player. I just think that Steve Kerr lost faith in him and I don’t think that he’s going to be there,” Hardaway added. “I don’t think he’s gonna be there for half the season.”
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