A few days ago, the Golden State Warriors reportedly made their demands clear in any trade for Jonathan Kuminga, they have a list of three demands from any team interested. They want a young player, a first-round pick, and no bad contracts in the potential deal. Following this, it was reported that teams like the Sacramento Kings, Chicago Bulls, and Phoenix Suns were in the race to get Jonathan Kuminga eventually.
Now, sources have claimed that in the trade negotiations with the Kings, the Warriors have refused to show any interest in the six-time NBA All-Star DeMar DeRozan.
According to Sam Amick, a senior writer with The Athletic, the Warriors reportedly don’t want DeRozan or Devin Carter in a potential trade for Kuminga. He appeared on the ‘Warriors Plus Minus’ podcast and gave the inside details on the negotiations.
“My understanding is the Warriors weren’t interested in Carter or DeRozan. As of a couple of weeks ago, the Kings weren’t willing to pay Kuminga into the $20 million range (AAV).”
DeMar DeRozan is expected to earn $24,750,000 in the coming season (2025-26) and $25,740,000 in the year after that. For the Warriors to be able to trade for DeRozan without giving up any further assets, they would have to forego the demand of a promising young player and still meet Kuminga’s demands and offer him a contract in the region of $25 million per year.
Thus, it can be assumed that the Warriors considered DeRozan a bad contract at this value or did not deem him as a sufficient return for trading away a promising young player like Kuminga. The 35-year-old former NBA All-Star is entering the 17th season of his NBA career. In a team like the Warriors, looking to go younger and not be over-reliant on veterans, it makes sense that they said no to DeRozan.
DeRozan averaged 22.2 points, 4.4 assists, and 3.9 rebounds in the 2024-25 season. Nearing the fading end of his career, DeRozan is not a great long-term investment for the Warriors. But the question that arises here is, among the teams interested in Kuminga, is he the best offer the Warriors are going to get?
The Warriors have reportedly only considered Ayo Dosunmu from the Bulls and reportedly liked none of the offers that were presented to them in the negotiations with either of the teams mentioned above. Jonathan Kuminga was also in no rush to accept any offers from the Warriors’ front office, who reportedly offered him a $20 million per year deal.
It is becoming increasingly more likely that either Jonathan Kuminga will stay with the Warriors and wait until next season to become an unrestricted free agent, or the front offices of all these teams are preparing a massive deal that involves other primary restricted free agents like Josh Giddey and Cam Thomas.
