The Golden State Warriors’ second timeline has had one last piece hanging on by a thread. That is 22-year-old Jonathan Kuminga. Since being picked in 2021, Kuminga’s tenure has been streaky. And one time he had a bad haircut. While he is still regarded as a promising young player, he just never seemed to quite gel with the Warriors’ scheme.
I don’t know. Maybe the Warriors are mad about that. The team that showed they were a few too many light-years ahead to properly assess a prospect like James Wiseman might be a little bit pissy. It’s nice the Valkyries exist now, but it’s a rough time in the Bay Area. After all, it’s been over two years since they won a championship. For life-long Warriors fans who believe the team came into existence in 2015, that’s just way too many.
Counting goes like this. One. Too. Too many. Someone has to pay for this. “KUMINGA! YOU’RE GOING TO SACRAMENTO!”
That’s right, according to an NBC report (lifted and placed on Reddit), “The Warriors, Kings and Detroit Pistons are discussing a three-team blockbuster that would send Kuminga and veteran point guard Dennis Schröder to Sacramento in separate sign-and-trade deals.”
For two franchises that seemed entirely moribund a dozen years ago, the peaks they have since reached have really can’t be compared. Four championships vs. the first playoff appearance in 17 years. Unanimous MVP vs. Kevin Huerter had a good season one time. Star players moving to and from the team to help the greatest shooter of all time extend a championship window vs. “acquiring Kuminga gives us championship experience.”
It’s not fair.
So it goes. Let’s all sing “Kumbaya” but replace it with “Kuminga”
It doesn’t fit perfectly, but if you really insist on it and really go at it with confidence you can make it work. Ask my cat. I’ve been singing it to her while she sits on my right hand, making it nearly impossible to write this article. She seems happy. Maybe I should stop.
If we’re looking at this from a positive frame of mind, this could be the fresh start Kuminga needs. The game in Golden State was never going to be tailored to his talents. As long as Steph is there, Stephish things are going to happen. Split pick and roll, movement shooting, not a lot of breaking down your defender one-on-one. I think Kuminga likes doing other stuff. He will have way more space to do it in Sacramento.
But if we’re comparing situations as it relates to the quality of the basketball team next season, and the reliability of basketball decision-makers, and (every team has this in some fashion) the specific blend of ugly ownership opinions… going from the Warriors to the Kings is kind of a downgrade. It’s like when the food stamps run out and you go from the tastier brand of tomato sauce to the Kroger kind.
I mean, it’s still technically tomato. It’s still technically an NBA team. He’s going to be fine. But in one case you can go into the season thinking “we still have Steph, so we still have a chance to win it all.” In the other case you’re just making extremely mid chili.
I put beans in mine. I don’t do most things Texas tells me to do, and I’m better off for it.
So if this were to go through, you could see it as revenge if that makes you happy in some weird, gross way. Have fun navigating life with that kind of brain. I’d rather just think it’s a deal that makes sense for all sides involved. The second timeline was entirely contained within the first. I think it’s best just subsumed and forgotten.