Source: Live broadcast
Translator Note: The original text is published on Yahoo Sports, and the data in the text is as of the time when the original text was published (September 16 local time), and the date and time involved are local time.
Deadlines are always active, and with only two weeks left from the opening of the NBA training camp — just a week away from the deadline for restricted free players to accept their qualifying offers (October 1st) — we are beginning to hear some loosening rumors about the long-standing impasse between the Warriors and the forward Jonathan-Kuminga.
Thro the calm summer, both the team and the players held their respective positions. Coutinho has been looking for a wealthy long-term advance contract from the Warriors, a contract that would indicate him a path to the starting position and core role, or join a pursuit willing to provide him with such advance extension contracts and development paths by signing them. According to many reports, the Sun and the King had both planned to provide a multi-year contract for Coutinho to get him into the team's initial lineup. However, it has been that Warriors general manager Mike-Dunley was not interested in the Sun and the King's deal proposed to the Warriors to get the Warriors.
The Warriors, on the other hand, want to keep Kuminga with a shorter and lower-paid contract. They reportedly made a two-year, $45 million offer, with the second year as a team option. This requires Kuminga to give up the de facto deal veto power he gained by signing guaranteed contracts with teams with their own Bird clauses. This contract structure will allow Warriors management to trade the 22-year-old forward to any destination of their choice when they think it is most convenient-even if the destination of the trade is not Kuminga's favorite next home.
The new week, however, brings new hope.Jake Fischer last week that Coutinho was “strongly considering accepting a $7.9 million qualifying offer” that would enable him to become a completely free player next summer – the same strategy that limited free player Cameron-Thomas took in the basketball net and also puts Warriors at risk of losing him without any player or title return. In addition, the report also quoted “We may finally see some progress in the Coutinho event next week.”
Late last week, Dunleavy offered Kuminga a three-year, $75.2 million contract with a third season as a team option, sources told ESPN. The guarantee amount in the first two seasons of this contract is $48.3 million, and the annual salary is basically the same as that of Josh Giddy, who is also a restricted free agent, who signed a four-year, $100 million contract extension with the Bulls. The difference is that the contract length is only half, and the third season is controlled by the team. At the same time, there is an underlying consensus that this contract is more of a trading asset than a commitment to a partnership.
According to the source, the contract structure demanded by Dundee and the Warriors is the same as the two-year $45 million framework they had previously proposed—that is, the second season is for team options, and giving up the inherent deal veto.
It is well-known that Coutinho is still reluctant to accept any solution to give Warriors such control, as he is frustrated with his years of unstable opportunities and limited growth under head coach Steve-Coll. It is that Coutinho and his broker Aaron Turner have made a payback for the Warriors' latest offer, but Dunlop and boss Joe-Racob have not taken action.
According to sources, a recent settlement was proposed over the past week: a one-year, negotiable contract could be viewed as an enhanced version of a qualifying offer, which would allow Couming to get a higher salary (over $8 million) and become a completely free player next summer, while removing the inherent trade veto and allowing Warriors to trade him out as a expiration contract before the transaction deadline. This would be a transitional contract, giving both sides the opportunity to collaborate for another year of exploration, but its salary is also easier to trade compared to the qualifying offer restricted by the October 1 deadline.
According to the source, Dunliwe rejected the idea, and it was obvious that Rakob rejected the premium one-year offer, as it would put the Warriors at the huge risk of losing Kunmingga in the coming summer.
Coutinho has demonstrated his ability to contribute to the data, playing for 25.6 minutes in the last two seasons, getting 15.8 points, 4.7 boards, scoring at 49.9 percent. When he first appeared, his output increased: in 56 first games, he played for 28.8 minutes, getting 17.1 points, 5.1 boards, 2.7 assists, a total of 1.4 robberies and hatches, and a scoring rate of 51.4 percent.
During the last few seasons, only a handful of players of the same age as Coutinho have played such performances: Alperen-Shining, Jeron-Williams, Evan-Mobry, Cheth-Homgren and Jeron-Johnson. The five players have earned huge contracts. However, they have also proved themselves to be high-level defenders, high-level organizers, or both. On the other hand, Coutinho's career assistive error ratio was 1.3:1, and he has not grown up to be the top-tiered defender expected to be 6 feet 8 inches (about 2.03 meters), 210 pounds (about 95 kilograms) and 6 feet 11 inches (about 2.11 meters).
This is a problem for the Warriors because the system that Cole built around Stephen-Curry requires everyone else to transfer the ball, run without the ball, get the ball in three points, defend hard, and usually integrate into a definite role. After the Warriors trade got Jimmy-Butler, the need for this integration system became more pressing: the Warriors were a high-efficiency, low-fault defensive drone, and played in the same position as the Warriors. According to PBP Stats data, last season when the Warriors were three at the same time, the Warriors scored 36 points in 105 minutes, their score efficiency ranks in the NBA first. However, when the Warriors were clearly out of the box and the Warriors won 180 points in 940 minutes, and the score efficiency reached the top five standards of the league.
At the end of last season, Cole restricted or abandoned Kuminga again and again, and instead adopted the most effective lineup for the Warriors to strive for a playoff place and achieved success in the playoffs. It wasn't until Curry suffered a hamstring injury in Game 1 of the second round of the playoffs against the Rockets that Cole reactivated Kuminga in desperation. In the next four games, Kuminga averaged 31 minutes per game and could score 24.3 points, shooting 55%, 39% and 72% of the field goal, three-point and free throw, respectively. He also had five assists and eight turnovers in those four games. In his time on the field, the Warriors were a net loss of 28 points, losing all four games and ultimately losing the entire series.
In short, that’s what’s hard to do. The only opportunity for Warriors to go further in the post-season is to do everything they can to optimize the lineup around Curry. It’s clear that, despite the outstanding sporting skills and scores talent of Curry, he has specific shortcomings in organizing links and defenses that make it difficult for him to partner with Curry. However, his sporting skills and talents are obvious and clearly valuable. With Curry, Butler and Green aged 35, Dundee and his team know that Curry and any contract he eventually signs could be the best trading code for the young talent.
Kuminga and his brokerage team also know this and hope the new contract will reflect his worth in terms of years and amount. However, if a contract is promised that will let Kuminga get more money in the early stage (which may disrupt the Warriors' plan to reinforce the lineup with veterans reportedly waiting, such as Al Horford, D 'Antoni Melton, Gary Payton II and Seth Curry), and the contract period extends beyond the summer of 2027 (when the contracts of Curry, Butler and Green will all expire, and if the Warriors want, they will have great salary flexibility), then it will make the Warriors' situation extremely complicated now and in the future.
As a result, this confrontation continues, and the two sides are Warriors and Kuminga. In fact, the former didn't move throughout the NBA offseason, and it was the only team in the league that didn't sign any contracts. At the beginning of the training camp, there were still six vacancies in the lineup, and it was watching Malcolm brogden, a once-gossip target, fall one by one. The latter is about to enter the fifth season of his career, but he is still seeking a clear position in the team. With only two weeks left to start the training camp, and only three weeks left before the deadline for qualification quotations on October 1st, it will be very interesting who will make concessions first.
By Dan Devine
Translated by: Gwayne