Mike Dunleavy may have been a sharpshooter during his 15-year NBA career, but he showed Tuesday night he can still dunk when needed.
The Warriors’ general manager provided a brutal reality check to Jonathan Kuminga, who recently demanded a trade following rocky offseason contract negotiations with the team.
“I think as far as the demand, we’re aware of that. In terms of demands, when you make a demand, there needs to be a demand in the market,” Dunleavy said Tuesday night, one day after the team lost superstar Jimmy Butler for the year with a torn ACL.
“So, we’ll see where that unfolds. But heard, always with these guys, I tell them I’m willing to work with them, want to help people out whether that’s J.K. or any player on our roster. We’re good with, if that’s his wishes, trying to figure that out, but we got to do what’s best for our organization and that’s what we’ll do, as far as it goes with the deadline coming up.”
It’s not often you hear a general manager basically say that nobody wants their player, but it would appear there is mounting frustration on both sides.
The Warriors drafted Kuminga with the No. 7 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and it’s been a bumpy journey since.
Kuminga reportedly lost faith in coach Steve Kerr during the 2023-24 season, raising questions about his future with the team.
He then rejected a three-year, $75 million contract to become a free agent faster, with the sides agreeing this September to a two-year, $48.5 million deal.
ESPN reported the second year is essentially a dummy year, allowing Kuminga to hit free agency earlier.
This season has not gone as either party would like, with Kuminga averaging 12.2 points — his lowest since the 2022-23 campaign — and appearing in just 19 of 45 games.
He became trade eligible on Jan. 15 and promptly demanded to be dealt with this year’s trade deadline coming on Feb. 5.
Kuminga missed 16 straight games due to injuries and Kerr not playing him before finally returning Tuesday and scoring 20 points in a 145-127 home loss to Toronto.
Trading Kumgina would have been more straightforward if not for Butler’s injury, but the Warriors likely need him now if they hope to still contend.
“I think we’ll take the next couple weeks to assess this team a little bit more. I felt pretty good with where we’re at heading into (Monday)’s game in terms of what we need to do,” Dunleavy said. “Thought our team was playing really well, heading in the right direction, obviously things have changed. I want to take a couple of weeks here to watch these games, see our team and what we can do better.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
