Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga misses team media day amid contract standoff

SAN FRANCISCO — Jonathan Kuminga was not present at the Golden State Warriors’ media day on Monday morning, but his absence hovered over everything the organization said and did as his decision regarding a new contract looms.

Kuminga, 22, has several options on the table regarding a potential future with the organization that drafted him with the seventh pick in 2021, but has yet to pick a direction. As Wednesday night’s qualifying offer deadline gets closer, Kuminga’s teammates were left to speak for him as a new Warriors’ season formally opened.

“Do I think he still wants to be here? Yeah, I do think he still wants to be here,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “And he said that to me, that he still wants to be here.”

Green’s words and message were clear, but the fact that Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy and head coach Steve Kerr did not speak on media day was unusual for an organization that is widely regarded as one of the most accessible in the league.

General managers and coaches regularly speak either in the days leading up to, or the day of, a team’s public reveal for a new year. Kerr is expected to speak to reporters following Tuesday’s first practice, with Dunleavy following suit later in the week, but the fact that neither man spoke Monday was noteworthy given how open the Warriors usually are.

Kuminga’s role with the Warriors was under the microscope since he was drafted into a team with championship aspirations behind veteran leaders Stephen Curry and Green, but it drew particular interest as his restricted free agency became an ongoing soap opera during an otherwise dull NBA free-agency summer. Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner, did several media interviews in recent weeks, outlining what the young forward is looking for in terms of both contract and role within the team.

“He wants a chance to start every night, finish every night,” Turner told the Bay Area sports radio, 95.7 The Game, recently. “He wants to be a focal point of a team. That’s not a secret. That’s something he works for.”

As Turner acknowledged on The Game that day, Kuminga’s choices are one year on the qualifying offer, which would essentially give him a no-trade clause for the year for just under $8 million, a two-year deal for $45 million with a team option, three years for $54 million with no option or three years for just over $75 million with a team option in the third year, as ESPN reported.

The point Turner hammered home, and one of the core issues in the standoff, is the reality that Kuminga could be traded midway through the season as the Warriors chase one more championship with Curry, Green and Jimmy Butler at the forefront. The team option/player option decision is another core issue for both sides. As it plays out, Curry remains outwardly confident that whenever Kuminga makes his decision, he will be focused and ready to help the Warriors win games.

“Negotiations are hard, we all know that,” Curry said Monday. “The idea of everybody’s situations are a little different. Everybody can come up with whatever narrative they want to. That’s how business kind of goes. Some things are pretty straightforward. Some things aren’t. This is definitely in the ‘aren’t’ category.

“But when he comes and he’s here, he should be a professional and do exactly what he expects to do and take advantage of his opportunities to help us win.”

Kuminga and the Warriors staring contest stopped the organization from finalizing other pieces to the roster and created an awkward atmosphere Monday for Green and other teammates given that Al Horford has been widely expected to sign with the Warriors for months, but can’t formally do so until the Kuminga situation is resolved.

“These things happen,” Green said. “You move on from them. He signed a contract, come out and play great — everybody will forget and move on. That’s the world we live in.”

(Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)