Jonathan Kuminga Top Plays of the 2024-25 (1:59)With Jonathan Kuminga and the Warriors agreeing to a new deal, revisit his top plays from the 2024-25 season. (1:59)
Kevin PeltonSep 30, 2025, 08:54 PM ETClose Co-author, Pro Basketball Prospectus series Formerly a consultant with the Indiana Pacers Developed WARP rating and SCHOENE systemFollow on X
Sept. 3: Mavericks, Washington agree to an extension
Aug. 5: Celtics trade Georges Niang, sign Chris Boucher
July 16: Bradley Beal agrees to buyout with Suns, to join Clippers
July 10: Thunder extend Williams on a five-year deal
July 2: Hornets retain Mann, add guard depth with Dinwiddie
July 1: Raptors extend Poeltl; add Mamukelashvili to bolster bench
June 30: JJJ gets massive extension with Memphis, Aldama returns
June 30: Kornet heads to San Antonio on a four-year deal
June 30: Pistons land LeVert and Reed in separate deals
June 30: Capela heads back to Rockets on three-year deal
June 30: Jerome headed to Memphis on a three-year deal
June 30: Lakers add LaRavia after losing Finney-Smith
June 29: Rockets’ Jabari Smith Jr. gets five-year extension
June 29: Randle stays with Wolves on three-year deal
June 29: Jaylin Williams to sign new three-year deal with OKC
June 28: Mitchell returns to Miami on two-year deal
June 27: Timberwolves and Naz Reid agree to new deal
June 25: VanVleet to sign new $50 million deal with Houston
June 14: Rockets, Adams agree to three-year extension
NBA free agency is underway, and teams are adding stars and making moves to fill their rosters for the 2025-26 season.
Among the most impactful signings so far: Myles Turner leaving the defending Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers for the Milwaukee Bucks; max extensions for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jaren Jackson Jr.; James Harden’s new two-year deal with the LA Clippers; and the $52.6 million player option for LeBron James with the Los Angeles Lakers.
As more deals get reported, we’re grading the moves and examining what each means for next season and beyond.
A day before the deadline for Kuminga to unilaterally accept his one-year, $8 million qualifying offer as a restricted free agent, he opted to sign one of the longer deals the Warriors made while keeping Kuminga as a tradeable salary.
Although Kuminga’s desire to avoid locking himself in long-term is understandable — which is why he chose this deal over a three-year structure with a team option that would have paid him a similar amount on an annual basis — the downside probably won’t be that substantial. As long as Kuminga is in Golden State, it will be challenging for him to play enough to merit a deal in the $30 million annual range.
Kuminga’s difficult fit alongside Warriors centerpieces Jimmy Butler III and Draymond Green loomed over these negotiations. Despite being Golden State’s third-leading scorer, Kuminga fell out of Steve Kerr’s rotation as the team prepared for the playoffs. He got multiple DNP-CDs, including the Warriors’ play-in victory and Game 1 of their first-round win over the Houston Rockets.
At the same time, Golden State needs Kuminga — or a better-shooting replacement — to manage minutes over the course of the regular season. Kuminga’s scoring proved crucial when the Warriors lost Steph Curry during round two against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kuminga averaged 24.3 points per game on 55% shooting over the last four games of that series.
The importance of both Kuminga and his salary spot gave him a certain leverage above and beyond the threat of accepting the qualifying offer. Kuminga could have opted not to sign until after the season began, hoping for an injury that could have forced Golden State back to the negotiating table. That would have been an enormous risk, however, and Kuminga’s opting for more safety is understandable.
From the Warriors’ perspective, Kuminga opting to forego the trade restriction that would ordinarily be part of this contract was critical. Golden State could have worked around that by exercising the 2026-27 option ahead of time, making this a multiyear deal that is not subject to the same restrictions as a one-year deal signed by a player using Bird rights. But Kuminga waiving that means the Warriors could use him as an expiring contract in a trade if necessary.
The more likely scenario is Golden State finds a workable Kuminga trade that makes both sides happy. Certainly, the interest shown by the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings reflected Kuminga’s value around the league. Striking a sign-and-trade deal this summer was complicated because Kuminga’s full salary would not count for trade purposes due to base-year compensation rules. By Jan. 15, when Kuminga is eligible to be traded, that will no longer be an issue.
The optimistic case for Kuminga is that he turns 23 next Monday and has shown an impressive ability to get to the foul line. He attempted seven-plus free throws per 36 minutes last season. In conjunction with the kind of shooting from the field we saw from Kuminga during his first three years in the league, Kuminga could have solid efficiency given his high usage rate.
If that comes to pass, Kuminga will be an unrestricted free agent before his 25th birthday with a chance to build on the $48.5 million he can make on this contract. This might not be the ideal contract Kuminga wanted, but in the long run, it should work out for everybody.
Finally. Horford signing with the Warriors was rumored from the start of free agency nearly three months ago and became obvious once the other possible suitors quickly utilized their exceptions to fill frontcourt needs.
Golden State delayed formally agreeing on a contract all summer to maintain flexibility pending the outcome of Jonathan Kuminga’s seemingly endless restricted free agency. Depending on where Kuminga’s contract came in, the Warriors could have structured Horford’s contract — which will hard cap them at the second apron by using their taxpayer midlevel exception — slightly differently.
Let’s come back to the financial implications of Horford’s deal and start by discussing the basketball fit. Even before the Warriors added Jimmy Butler at the February trade deadline, frontcourt shooting was Golden State’s biggest need.
With Draymond Green an iffy shooter at this stage of his career (32.5% on 3s during the regular season, 27% in the playoffs) and Butler (1.9 attempts per game from long distance) a reluctant one, the Warriors badly need everyone else on the court with them to stretch the floor. (That has been part of the issue with Kuminga, who shot a career-worst 30.5% on 3s last season.)
That limitation resulted in Golden State coach Steve Kerr settling on a tiny lineup to close the regular season with no player taller than the 6-foot-7 Butler. Green plays much bigger than his listed height (6-foot-6), certainly, but the best Warriors “small-ball” units featured more size alongside him in the frontcourt than we saw last season.
Enter the 6-foot-9 Horford, who remains an archetype of versatility in his late 30s. (Horford turned 39 in June and will be 40 by the conclusion of the 2026 NBA Finals.) Horford shot just 36% on 3s last season, but that came on the heels of hitting better than 40% beyond the arc in each of the previous two campaigns. And Horford remains capable of defending on the perimeter better than most centers two decades younger.
To keep him healthy for long playoff runs, the Celtics carefully managed Horford’s minutes. He last played both ends of a back-to-back set in March 2022 and was limited to 28 minutes per game despite Boston playing much of last season without starting center Kristaps Porzingis. Golden State will want to operate in a similar fashion, making it important for young reserves Trayce Jackson-Davis and Quinten Post to help alleviate the 82-game load.
Come the postseason, the Warriors have unparalleled playoff experience. After 2021, last year’s NBA Finals were the second since 2014 that didn’t feature Golden State (which still boasts Green and Stephen Curry from their dynasty run), Butler or Horford. All four rank among the top 10 active players in playoff minutes.
How much Kuminga makes this season is limited by apron restrictions. If they fill out the roster with expected minimum signings of Seth Curry, De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II, that leaves the Warriors some $24 million to spend on Kuminga while staying clear of the second apron.
Signing other free agents to deals with player options such as Horford’s would reduce that maximum starting offer slightly because they would count at their full salary rather than the veteran’s minimum. But Golden State has more than enough money to make a fair offer to Kuminga on a multiyear deal that would also be highly tradeable.
Giddey is the second of the four key restricted free agents whose negotiations lingered well into the offseason to re-sign with his team, and the first to strike a long-term deal after Cam Thomas accepted the Brooklyn Nets’ qualifying offer.
Compared with Thomas, Giddey had far more leverage on his side. Chicago gave up key contributor Alex Caruso to get Giddey from the Oklahoma City Thunder last summer, and Giddey’s loftier qualifying offer ($11-plus million) made playing out this season a more viable threat if the Bulls deal wasn’t for more than $20 million per year.
In that scenario, Giddey would have needed only to sign a three-year contract for $23 million per year as an unrestricted free agent next summer in order to be equally well off. Given that concern, Chicago was probably right to increase Giddey’s offer to the point where he was willing to pass on the qualifying offer.
After all, Giddey did make strides in his first season with the Bulls, shooting a career-high 38% on 3s to address what had been his biggest offensive shortcoming. Given the keys to Chicago’s offense, Giddey nearly averaged a triple-double with 21.2 PPG, 10.7 RPG and 9.3 APG after the All-Star break. His shooting during that span (46% on 3s) is surely unsustainable, but Giddey is too often treated as a finished product at age 22.