The Golden State Warriors and restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga are still in negotiations over a new contract. After months of back-and-forth talks, one facet of the deal looms large: whether it will contain a team or player option for the third season, which has been the primary source of disagreement between both parties.
The Warriors are insistent on Kuminga's new deal containing a team option, which will prevent him from exploring free agency until the contract expires. Kuminga, however, wants a player option, giving himself the flexibility to potentially leave Golden State one year earlier and find a more lucrative deal elsewhere in the NBA.
League insider Jake Fischer recently revealed the reason why the Warriors have refused to budge on their current stance in negotiations thus far.
Team option in Kuminga's contract provides Warriors with roster flexibility
During an "Insider Notebook" livestream on Bleacher Report's app and YouTube page on Sept. 17, Fischer said including a team option for the final year of Kuminga's proposed three-year, $75.2 million contract will maintain the Warriors' roster flexibility for future seasons.
As the organization is set to see many of its aging superstars' contracts expire in the near future, Kuminga's team option will allow it to either hold onto Kuminga for an additional year or trade him for assets that will contribute to the team's future success.
"The Warriors need to have Kuminga at a significant salary structure — something north of $20 million — to, at a minimum, help them go out and trade for some reinforcements, some upgrade, as they try to compete in a loaded Western Conference with Steph Curry in the waning years of his prime, with Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green all still locked up under team control for two years," Fischer said.
"The fact that the Warriors wanted that third-year team option also goes back to that point. Golden State does not have anyone on their contract books beyond the next two seasons — this upcoming '25-26 campaign, and the '26-27 season that Jimmy Butler, Steph Curry and Draymond Green are all signed for."
It also wouldn't rule out the possibility of a sign-and-trade for Kuminga, which has been a rumored resolution to his ongoing stalemate with the Warriors.