Jonathan Kuminga‘s perfect shooting night in the Golden State Warriors‘ 134-112 rout of the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, January 25, showed he’s ready for a bigger role.
ESPN front office insider Bobby Marks has a salary dump trade proposal that will finally give Kuminga the big minutes he is craving and provide the Warriors financial flexibility to retain Klay Thompson in the offseason.
Mark’s trade proposal:
Golden State Warriors receive: Alec Burks & Monte Morris
Detroit Pistons receive: Andrew Wiggins & Corey Joseph
In this trade scenario, the Warriors would get rid of Wiggins’ remaining $85 million over the next three years. Burks and Morris are on expiring salaries and could also provide veteran depth for the Warriors in the second half of the season.
Kuminga would jump into the Warriors’ starting lineup and no longer have to worry about Wiggins eating up his playing time.
On top of giving Kuminga the keys to their future, the cap relief will also allow the Warriors to keep their core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green together.
“Golden State could duck the second apron next season, re-sign Thompson and still keep [Chris] Paul as a trade asset,” Marks wrote.
A Glimpse of Warriors’ Future
Kuminga had 25 points on a perfect 11 of 11 shooting off the bench in the Warrior’s first game since the untimely death of assistant coach Dejan Milojević last week.
His perfect shooting night tied Chris Mullin’s franchise record for most makes without a miss the Hall of Fame guard recorded in 1990.
Kuminga laced up the most complete game of his young career with nine rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.
“JK was tremendous,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters after the much-needed win. “Just really attacking the rim, that’s where we want him. We want him in the paint because you can’t him in there.
He’s so powerful and athletic and 11 for 11. I’m guessing eight or nine of those buckets were in the paint and I thought he was fantastic. Nine boards and he was just so under control. I’m just thrilled with JK’s progression — how much he’s maturing and understanding what’s going on and it’s beautiful to watch.”
Kerr was right.
Kuminga hit nine field goals in the paint while the other two were short jumpers.
Such a phenomenal performance validates the Warriors’ decision to keep him off the Pascal Siakam trade talks that did not go down.
Dejan Milojević Tribute
The Warriors paid tribute to Milojević, who died due to a heart attack, in an emotional pregame ceremony.
The Hawks, who had two Serbians in their team — Bogdan Bogdanovic and assistant coach Igor Kokoskov, joined the Warriors in a united front during the singing of the Serbian national anthem to honor “Deki” as they so fondly called Milojević. Bogdanovic and Kokoskov also shared Milojević’s impact on their lives.
A tribute video was played on the big screen and Milojević’s photo of his infectious smile beamed around the Chase Center.
All the Warriors players put an extra jersey bearing “BRATE” draped over the seat.
Each Warrior player then placed an extra jersey with Milojević’s name on his coaching seat on the bench covered with a special black T-shirt with the word “BRATE” which means “Brother” in Serbia.
They reserved their best tribute later in the evening — a resounding victory that snapped a two-game skid and got their bearings back.
“It’s been a tough week,” Kuminga told reporters. “Obviously we kind of regrouped with everything that was going on and went out there and just enjoy and just have fun and do what Deki would want us to do.”
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