If you want a championship, the Warriors can only give it a try

Sports Weekly All-Media Reporter Dong Changshuo

When talking about the Warriors' future, Kumingga is an unavoidable name. In the last four games of the series against the Timberwolves, Kumingga scored 18 points, 30 points, 23 points and 26 points respectively.

After the Warriors were eliminated, the team owner Lacob had an exchange with him, watching the game in the VIP seats on the sidelines. Lacob's words summarized Kumingga's role well. "I have been listening to the fans behind me summarizing the game for me during the game. Kumingga is the name they mentioned all night. Kumingga is the only one in the team who can defend Edwards and completed his mission well. Last season he encountered a difficult situation of being DNP and rebounded from such a situation. I admire him very much. I am his loyal fan."

Lakob's love for Kumingga has been a well-known fact for many years. But at the same time, Kohl's doubts about Kumingga are also known by Zhou Zhou. When explaining the reasons for DNP Kumingga, Cole believed that the combination of Kumingga, Green and Butler was not suitable and completely gave up the use of Kumingga. From a data perspective, Cole's words seem to be correct. This season, when Kumingga, Butler and Green were on the court at the same time, the Warriors lost 28.2 points in a hundred rounds, performing poorly. Although these three may be the best forward body configuration that the Warriors can come up with on the defensive end, the space problem is a life-threatening goal that cannot be solved.

But from a different perspective, you will find how outrageous Cole is. Before Butler arrived, Kumingga played the most outstanding period of his career; after Curry was injured, Kumingga became the most dazzling player on the Warriors' offensive end. Even if Curry is present, Kumingga's performance is enough to surpass Butler and become the Warriors' second offensive choice. But even so, the Warriors' internal scoring champion when playing against the Rockets in the regular season was still difficult to accept by Cole's DNP just because of a set of lineups. As the head coach, what Cole has to do is to play every card in his hand, but Kumingga, the potential "little king" in the Warriors, was abandoned like a piece of cake.

Earlier today, an American reporter revealed that Kumingga ignored Curry's running position many times in the game, which aroused Cole's dissatisfaction. But then I thought about it, from Thompson in the dynasty to Poole in 2022, shouldn’t celebrity athletes show confidence to ignore Curry, or even use Curry’s involvement ability to decisively end? Perhaps we once believed Cole's judgment at the end of the regular season, but when Coominga handed over such an answer in the last four games, we had to confirm Cole's dereliction of duty in hiring. Looking at the stories of the Nuggets and Malone and listening to Rakob's appreciation of Kumingga, "not willing to use it" is often more terrifying than "not able to use it".

This summer, the Warriors will give Kumingjia a qualification offer of $7.9 million a year, with the right to match the quotes of other teams. According to TA's report, the Warriors will not let Kumingga leave without permission, and there is still a possibility of subsequent negotiations for his stay in the team. If Kumingga is determined to leave, the Warriors management will find a sign-on and then exchange deal with his agent Aaron Turner. If Kumingga eventually stays in the team, the Warriors will allow Cole to give the four-man "Kumingga, Green, Butler, Curry" more time at the beginning of the season. This summer, Kumingga and Butler have discussed the matter of training together.

Curry, Butler and Green will have a total salary of nearly $140 million next season, accounting for 85% of the total salary space. Adding to the contracts of Moody's, Hilde, Podjemsky, TJD, Perst and Santos (9 people in total), the Warriors still have $17.5 million in space from the luxury tax line (25 million for the first tyrant line and 37 million for the second tyrant line). This means that the Warriors don’t have many directions during the offseason: 1. Sign first and then exchange, try to chase letters and KD, which will hollow out the Warriors’ draft picks and substitute lineups, forming a top-heavy lineup; 2. Quote Kumingga, continue to believe in Kumingga’s development, and look forward to Cole’s enlightenment; 3. Deal with Kumingga, use the full middle class to find the third scoring point, and control salary and expenses.

Currently, the high-value draft picks available for trading in the Warriors include first-round picks in 2026, 2028, 2030 (top 20) and 2032, as well as first-round pick swap rights for the next seven seasons. Considering Curry's age, the first round picks in 2028, 2030 and 2032 are all attractive.

However, TA pointed out in the report that sources revealed that there is currently no sign that the Warriors are willing to join the battle for letters. During this offseason, the management's idea is to optimize the puzzle lineup around Curry and Butler's core duo.

Judging from the team's performance in the playoffs this season, the Warriors urgently need to strengthen the size of the frontcourt and the basket protection of the inside. At the same time, Curry and Butler, who are one year older next year, are likely to need to manage a lot of load in the regular season. The team must be prepared for such a situation and create a team that can still operate healthily in the regular season and even the playoffs if they lose Curry. After going around, the third star seems to be an indispensable insurance for this team with a core age exceeding the standard.