All eyes will be on the Golden State Warriors’ pregame warmups Thursday night when the club takes the court for the first time since the Jonathan Kuminga trade window opened.
Will Kuminga be in the building when the Warriors face the New York Knicks in San Francisco?
Kuminga has sat out the past 13 games as Warriors fans await a possible trade at first opportunity after the 23-year-old forward signed a two-year, $46.8 million contract extension in the offseason. It’s a deal that hasn’t worked out for either side, with Kuminga a healthy scratch as the Warriors continue to shop for a different complement to Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler.
By rule, the Warriors were not allowed to trade the former No. 7 overall pick until Thursday.
While Kuminga has watched, Golden State has won nine of 13 games, including three of four to open a current eight-game homestand.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr hasn’t commented on the likelihood of a trade, but he seemed to indicate in his weekly interview with the club’s flagship radio station, 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, that he’d like to see finality to the awkwardness.
“I’m just gonna to say: It’s a difficult situation,” Kerr insisted. “Everybody knows it. I’m just gonna leave it at that. … It’s just wait and see. We have to control what we can control and try to keep moving the ship forward. This is not an easy situation. It’s not an easy one to talk about, frankly. I try to protect everybody organizationally, and nobody’s winning right now with this situation and it’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.”
Kuminga, who is averaging 11.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, became eligible to be traded at midnight Thursday morning — just hours before tip-off against the Knicks — so it’s possible those who show up for the clubs’ first head-to-head of the season won’t see the forward at all.
They will see a well-rested Warriors team that coasted to a 119-97 home romp over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday, riding 23 3-pointers and 34 assists to the win. Only Kuminga didn’t get into the game among the 15 Warriors who suited up.
The Knicks, meanwhile, made the short trip from Sacramento to San Francisco late Wednesday night after a 112-101 loss to the Kings.
The Knicks’ back-to-back will end a stretch of four Western games in seven days, with New York having lost at Phoenix and Sacramento, sandwiching a win at Portland in between.
The Knicks might have lost more than just a game in the California capital, as star guard Jalen Brunson left the contest for good in the first quarter with an injured right ankle.
It’s the same ankle that caused Brunson to miss 15 games late last season and two earlier this season. While the Knicks did not give a prognosis for Brunson, The Athletic reported early Thursday that the guard exited the arena without using crutches or wearing a walking boot.
New York coach Mike Brown, making his return to Sacramento after being the head coach there for 2 1/2 seasons, blamed the loss on the Knicks’ lack of aggressiveness in the absence of its tough-minded point guard.
“We just fouled. I wish I could blame the refs. We fouled,” he said. “They drive into our chest and we drive away from the basket.”
