For a while this offseason, it felt like Jonathan Kuminga was going to end up on the Sacramento Kings. The Kings were fairly open in their interest in the Golden State Warriors hyper-athletic wing, and we know they love to wheel and deal. But a sign-and-trade involving the unrestricted free agent and the Warriors’ little brother never came to fruition, and it seemed to die entirely in August.
It was revived this week, though. According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, the Warriors and Kings re-opened talks that had been dormant for more than a month. According to Amick, the Kings’ offer for Kuminga is still highly mediocre: veteran guard Malik Monk and a lottery-protected first-round pick in 2030.
Golden State’s holdup is more than just due to the mild nature of the offer, though. According to Amick, the Dubs just don’t have any interest in Monk, despite the fact that the 27-year old has torched them a few times in the past. Here’s what Amick wrote:
Several obstacles to a deal remain, most notably the fact that the Warriors’ interest in Monk appears to be quite muted. His contract is the primary issue, as he has a player option for the 2027-28 season worth $21.5 million that does not fit with the Warriors’ future flexibility plans. There are concerns about his fit on the team as well.
That brings up an important, albeit simple question: should the Warriors be more interested in Monk? I suspect for most people, the answer to that question is “yes” — after all, the Warriors have been desperately searching for offensive reinforcements for many years, and Monk averaged 17.2 points per game last year … more than anyone on the Warriors, save for Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler III.
For me, however, the answer is a crystal clear “no.” Monk is certainly talented, but I’m not sure how much he would actually make the Warriors better. He would be a fairly disastrous pairing with Curry in the starting lineup. While it would be nice for Curry to have a high-scoring partner to share the backcourt with, Monk is sneakily not a great shooter. After a pair of high-efficiency campaigns in 2020-21 and 2021-22, Monk dipped to just 34.4% from three-point range during his three-year tenure with the Kings, including 32.5% last season.
At 6’3, Monk would form one of the league’s smallest backcourts if starting alongside Curry, and not small in the way that, say, Gary Payton II could offer. Monk is, to put it bluntly, a fairly atrocious defensive player. He ranked in the 11th percentile in defense last year, per EPM, and that feels a little bit generous.
It’s hard to square that roster circle, so Monk would almost surely come off the bench for the Dubs. And in that situation, is he really a preferable option to Brandin Podziemski, who is a much better defensive player and playmaker? Or is he going to get minutes from Buddy Hield, who has a fairly similar game, but is under contract for much cheaper?
If you assume that the Warriors re-sign Payton and add De’Anthony Melton, you can start crafting lineups for yourself. But if you’re anything like me, you’ll find a hard time giving many minutes to Monk if you’re trying to craft the best lineups to win games.
As Amick mentions, Monk’s contract is a bit thorny as well. Assuming he exercises his player option, his deal runs for three years and about $60 million. Not only is $20 million AAV quite rich for a non-starter who doesn’t have breakout potential like a younger player (say, for instance, Kuminga), but it puts the Warriors where they don’t want to be financially: with money committed past 2026-27 to a player who they don’t view as part of the core. 2026-27 is the final year that Curry, Jimmy Butler III, and Draymond Green are under contract, and the Warriors have been hesitant to give even Kuminga guaranteed money beyond that, so you can imagine the reluctance for a player who they can’t build around.
That issue is compounded by the fact that Golden State could, presumably, just offer Kuminga the deal that’s on the table from the Kings: three years, and a fully-guaranteed $63 million. Might as well just give the money to JK at that point — he’s (probably) the better player, (probably) the better fit, and (certainly) has more potential.
According to Amick, the Warriors have been exploring options to move Monk is a separate deal, which would allow them to pursue the Kings’ offer. But given Monk’s contract, it seems unrealistic to expect the Dubs to be able to find much of interest; certainly not enough to justify giving up on Kuminga.
