Kumingga detonated a fine of 72.63 million! Horford was unable to sign the contract, and the Warriors were strangled by the tyrant line seven

The Golden State Warriors were quite quiet this offseason, with the Warriors doing little in the free agent market as the future of restricted forward Jonathan Cumingga remains undecided. According to the well-known ClutchPoints reporter Brett Siegel, "The two sides are far from reaching an agreement. The main problem for the Warriors is that there is no market at all. This situation may be delayed until August, which will continue to hinder other operations reached in the free agent market, including the signing of veteran center Al Horford and defender D'Antoni Melton. The Warriors need to solve the problem of Cumingga before completing these two deals."

Why is Cumingga's situation so complicated? The main reason is that the price codes of both parties have not been negotiated. It is reported that during the offseason last year, the Warriors provided Cumingga with an annual renewal contract with an annual salary of about $30 million, but was rejected by Cumingga. At this time, the Warriors no longer considered the price of 3,000 yuan and were only willing to provide a new contract with an annual salary of about $20 million. At this time, Cumingga still asked the Warriors to provide the price they gave at the beginning. As our 2025-26 season training camp approaches, the huge gap between the psychological prices of both sides will undoubtedly extend the negotiation time, and the Warriors may refuse to raise prices due to tight salary cap space. The Warriors' total salary is about $170.5 million. Assuming that Cuminga's annual asking price is $30 million, the Golden State Warriors' total salary will soar to $200.5 million, exceeding the NBA's first luxury tax line and only about $7 million away from the second luxury tax line. Adding to Melton's $5.7 million taxpayer's middle class exception and Horford's veteran base salary, the Warriors' total salary will exceed the second luxury tax line. As the Warriors have had three seasons over taxes in the past four seasons, a super luxury tax penalty will be triggered, with cash tax bills as high as $72.63 million. At the same time, 5.7 million taxpayer middle class was lost (unable to sign Melton), and only 4.1 million mini middle class was left. In addition, cash transactions are prohibited + first-round picks with a trading period of more than 7 years are prohibited. In addition, the salary of players who are exchanged for any transaction shall not be higher than 125% of the players given away. At the same time, signing any player with an initial salary of more than $12.4 million is prohibited. In the end, the draft pick will be automatically relegated, and no matter what the record is, the first round pick will be automatically relegated to the last place in the first round.

In contrast, if Kumingga's annual salary is $20 million per year, the Warriors will always remain below the No. 1 luxury tax line and maintain sufficient cap space flexibility, fully capable of adding more lineup depth when signing Melton and Horford. Not to mention that the $10 million difference will also make Cuminga more likely to be traded in the middle of the season, which is also the ultimate plan for the Warriors.

Some friends who don't understand the NBA salary structure may ask why the Warriors don't sign Melton and Horford immediately now. The reason is simple, when a team's total salary crosses the first luxury tax line, they will be prohibited from obtaining any player in a sign-on and then exchange deal. In other words, if the Warriors sign Melton and Horford before renewing the contract with Cuminga, they have the potential to cross this threshold, which will lead to them losing the flexibility to receive players in a sign-on and then-change deal involving Cuminga. The Warriors will continue to be trapped in the offseason with the current price negotiation deadlock with the Kumingga team, so for the Warriors, the top priority is to bring Kumingga back to the Bay Area, or find a buyer in the sign-on and then exchange market.

From the editor's personal point of view, the Warriors' perfect move is to use Kumingga to sign first and then trade a center. The Warriors are undoubtedly eager for a center, as can be seen in their interest in Horford. Even if they sign the 39-year-old veteran, being able to exchange Kuminga for a younger center is a perfect move for the Warriors during the offseason. There are indeed some rebuilding teams that are reserved for young stars. They may be willing to give up their center in exchange for potential new stars like Kumingga who have the ability to take offense. The editor thinks that there are at least three centers that meet this condition.

Robert William III

The first and most likely deal target is Rowe of the Portland Trail Blazers. When he is healthy, he is an excellent rim protector and all-receive threat, but the problem is that he has not been able to stay healthy since helping the Boston Celtics reach the NBA Finals in the 2021-22 season. Rowe played 61 games that season, but in the past three years, he has only 61 games in total.

And the Trail Blazers do have a reason to trade Rowe, because they just selected Chinese center Yang Hansen with the 16th pick in the first round at this year's draft, and needed to make room for the young center. And for the Golden State Warriors, this is definitely a risky deal, that is, betting that Rowe can stay healthy, but the reward is also huge, and the 27-year-old player may become their long-term starting center choice. The current development direction of the Utah Jazz is a bit confusing, but it almost gave away John Collins for free, and Colin Sexton for center Yusuf Nurkic, which ultimately shows that the Jazz are willing to send away Kessler. The 2.13-meter-tall center has been deeply involved in various trading rumors since entering the league three years ago. His performance as a rebounder, rim guard and pick-and-roller has steadily improved every year, but as the Jazz have not been able to get high picks, they may be willing to get high potential players like Cuminga. And this deal is also perfect for the Warriors. Kessler's ability immediately provides elite-level blocking ability, while reducing the defensive burden on veterans like Greene. The Nets are a completely rebuilt team that already has enough draft picks to include five first-rounders drafted in 2025, with no urgency to win immediately. Although Clarkston is only 26 years old, he is now in his seventh season in the league, only recently becoming one of the most reliable players in the league, and has had more than 70 attendances per season over the past three seasons. His role is similar to Rowe and Kessler, and he can provide the Warriors with reliable rim protection and pick-and-roll threats.

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