This concludes the correspondence that has made Jonathan Kuminga staying with the Golden State Warriors official, signing a two-year, $48.5 million deal. The deal has a team option for the second year. This would allow the Warriors, or any suitor, to then have flexibility to renegotiate a new deal after the 2025-26 season.
Because Kuminga’s offensive game has expanded at an impressive rate, he’s developed into an invaluable Warriors asset over the past two seasons. In fact, he’s been the team’s leader in paint-scoring in that span. Across the 2023-24 season, Williams scored about 10 points per game in the paint. This was quite a jump from his outstanding career-best average of 8.5 points per game from two years ago. His play on the floor has proven to be more than enough to make him one of the top players from the 2021 NBA Draft class.
It’s been a historic run for the young forward. He’s one of just eight players from the 2021 draft class to record 3,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. In addition, he is one of only five players in Warriors history to score 3,000 points before his 23rd birthday. Kuminga’s scoring efficiency ranks him 5th in points per 36 minutes among his draft class. This specific ranking illustrates how impressive he is on the court.
Kuminga’s new contract will make him the fourth-highest paid player on the Warriors’ roster for the upcoming season. His $22.5 million salary will have a huge impact in shaping the team’s salary structure moving forward. Only this time, it will add about $70 million to their luxury tax penalty, taking their total tax burden to more than $80 million.
During the recent postseason, Kuminga demonstrated his potential as a key player for the Warriors, particularly in their Western Conference semifinals series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. With star player Stephen Curry sidelined, Kuminga took the opportunity to step up. He put up an astounding 20.8 points on some out of this world 54.3% shooting vs Minnesota. This showing reiterates his potential to make a huge impact when afforded greater responsibility.
This means Kuminga picked a two-year deal rather than a three-year one valued at $75 million more. This move underscores his intention to continue to shape his own future with the Warriors. By taking a shorter contract, he positions himself to make key career moves next summer. He could choose to go into unrestricted free agency in 2027 as well.
Case in point: his scoring average jumped five points when Curry wasn’t on the floor. In those ten games when Curry was out, Poole averaged 19.6 points per game, compared to just 14.1 ppg when the two shared the court together. Significantly, this trend highlights Kuminga’s ability to perform under pressure and step up as a more significant role on the team.
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