Everyone says to look forward, everyone looks forward to money

"Are you willing to continue to stay with the team?" The question from Warriors boss Rakob received a sharp replies from Kumingga: "Are you sure the team is willing to stay?" Behind this conversation is the profound differences and a crisis of trust between the labor and capital sides in the renewal negotiations.

is getting closer to the deadline for restricted free agents to accept team qualification quotes (October 1), and the confrontation between the Warriors and Kumingga continues. The team hopes to get the initiative of the player's whereabouts at a limited cost; the players hope to win high salaries while taking their destiny into their own hands. This game has been dragged on for a long time and has not made any substantial progress. The Warriors' signings and Kumingga's future have all been affected.

Reporter Feng Zihan reported why the contract renewal is so difficult to produce in the 2021 draft, the Warriors selected Kumingga with the seventh pick in the first round under Lacob's finals. The team management would never have thought that four years later, the forward player would be so embarrassed with them.

This summer, Kumingga completed his four-year first-round rookie contract and became a restricted free agent. The Warriors provided a $7.9 million qualification offer. Although the salary is very low, the "invisible benefit" is that Kuminga has the right to trade veto and can become a full free agent in the offseason in 2026.

The validity period of this quotation equivalent to "supporting the bottom" for players will end on October 1. If the player does not sign this contract, the qualification quotation will automatically expire. However, during this period, the two parties can still negotiate other contracts. Kumingga originally hoped to get a generous long-term contract, which could guarantee the appearance time and the right to decide where he would go in the future; the Warriors hoped to keep Kumingga with a shorter and lower-paid contract, and also gain the initiative in trading him.

So the disagreement came.

The Warriors were only willing to give a contract of 2 years, 45 million plus the last year's team option, and Kumingga needed to give up the trade veto. Kumingga did not agree, and the Warriors updated their quotation again: 75.2 million yuan in three years plus the third-year team option, of which, the guaranteed salary in the first two years was 48 million yuan, and Kumingga also required him to give up the veto of the transaction.

Kuminga's team also put forward their own ideas: a one-year contract that is higher than the qualification quote, and waives the trade veto, allowing the Warriors to use it as an expiration contract before the transaction deadline, which gives both parties the opportunity to work together for another year for investigation. Even though Lakob loved Kuminga, he rejected this plan for overall considerations: he believed that this would increase the possibility of the Warriors losing Kuminga in vain next summer.

Both sides want to take control of their future and maximize their own interests, and the negotiations continue to be deadlocked.

The Warriors' signings were greatly affected

From the perspective of the Warriors, they have given great sincerity in terms of salary. At present, the team's salary pressure is huge. Curry, Butler, Green, Moody, Hilde, Pojemsky, Davis, Santos and Post's total salary has reached 170.5 million.

At the same time, they basically finalized the introduction of Horford, Melton, Payton, and Curry Jr., which was another expense.

In the new season, the NBA luxury tax line is US$187 million and the second luxury tax line is 208 million. This means that the Warriors can add up to 22.5 million to Kuming next season if they guarantee a 15-man roster and no more than the second luxury tax line. However, this did not satisfy Kumingga's appetite.

For the Warriors, Kumingga's whereabouts are not resolved, and the next step of reinforcement is impossible. They have no action throughout the offseason and are the only team in the league that has no signings. What's even more worrying is that as the training camp is about to begin, the team still has 6 vacancies, and the two main players Butler and Green can no longer sit still. The former contacted the Warriors management to find out about the team's plans.

In fact, the Warriors held on to the team's options, and there was another meaning: this contract was more about preparing for the transaction of Kumingga, rather than continuing to cooperate with him.

At present, the Warriors are focusing on competing for the championship around Curry, Butler and Green at the end of their career. If Kumingga stays in the team, the team's record will not improve, they can also use the team options to send Kumingga away, and trade to get other combat power.

If Kuminga accepts the qualification quote, the Warriors can save 70 million in luxury taxes and can even rediscuss a sign-on and then exchange contract next year. However, a year later, perhaps as Rakob worried: Unless the Warriors can send Kumingga to where he wants to go, the team will lose their basket.

There are three ways to break the deadlock

There is no doubt that if both sides drag on like this, no one will be the winner. If you want to break the deadlock, there are not many choices.

The Warriors insist on not giving in to the team options, and can exchange Kumingga for some assets now. Although the market conditions were flat this offseason, Kumingga still attracted the attention of many teams, among which the Kings and the Suns had a fierce offensive.

Previously, the Suns (quoted 80-88 million to 88 million in four years) proposed a plan to use Reus O'Neilga's second-round draft pick, while the Kings (quoted 63-66 million in three years) used Malik Monkga's future first-round draft pick as the main body, but they were rejected by the Warriors. However, all parties still have the opportunity to re-sit on the negotiating table.

Of course, Kumingga can also accept the Warriors' updated offer to stay in the team to get a richer salary, but this also means that he may still be uncomfortable in the new season.

As we all know, Kumingga has proved that he is capable of contributing, but his game style is always out of place with the Warriors' tactical philosophy, which is why coach Cole sometimes abandons him. Last season, Kumingga gradually fell out of rotation after Butler arrived. He played only three games in the first round of the playoffs series, and played only 7 minutes in the tiebreak..

Kuminga's last retreat is to accept the qualification quote before the deadline, wait for a year to return to freedom, and then go to the team he wants to go to. Kumingga believes he has the potential to be an All-Star player and will have at least 10 teams with cap space to sign him next summer.

For Kumingga, accepting qualification quotations is tantamount to a big gamble, betting on yourself to get a higher value. However, from past examples, most of the players who signed qualification quotes did not develop better, and it seemed that only Bridges got what he wanted: he later signed a three-year, $75 million contract with the Hornets.