Kuminga: Worth the Risk of an Unprotected Pick for the Kings?

The Sacramento Kings may have to decide if Jonathan Kuminga is worth an unprotected pick or if they want to hold firm and risk him going back to Golden State.

Mar 20, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga (00) reacts after hitting a three-point shot against the Toronto Raptors during the second quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images | John Hefti-Imagn Images

As the weekend comes to an end, the saga between the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, and Jonathan Kuminga continues to trudge on in a stalemate.

The Warriors are reportedly done exploring sign-and-trade options for Kuminga, but rumors continue to swirl between the two Northern California teams, with the apparent holdup being first-round pick protections.

The Kings have reportedly offered a package of Devin Carter, Dario Saric, and draft compensation, but have also reportedly offered Malik Monk to the Warriors. Golden State has turned down every offer, coming back and holding firm they they want the draft compensation that's included to be an unprotected first-round pick.

The Kings have made Keegan Murray and Keon Ellis untouchable in trade talks involving Jonathan Kuminga, per @JandersonSacBee pic.twitter.com/bhMyJqRJbI

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 30, 2025

That leaves the ball in the Kings court, should Golden State not budge from their demands as they hold the leverage in the end with the restricted free agency.

And it begs the question: Is Jonathan Kuminga worth an unprotected first-round pick?

At first thought, everything points to the answer being a quick no. Unprotected picks are one of, if not the most, treasured assets in an NBA GM's arsenal, and giving them up is generally reserved for bringing in a proven star, a top-tier role player, or to get off of a horrendous contract.

We saw the Denver Nuggets trade Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected first-round pick for Cam Johnson earlier this offseason, and while Johnson isn't a star, he fits the Nuggets' needs perfectly and helped them get off of Porter Jr.'s contract.

The Nuggets are also in the middle of a title window, making it worth sending out a future pick to focus on maximizing Nikola Jokić's time in Denver. The Kings, meanwhile, are starting a roster rebuild under new GM Scott Perry, which is safe to say, not the start of a championship window.

But the hard thing about Kuminga is that while he's not a proven star, he is young and has the potential to become one. His time in and out of the rotation in Golden State makes it harder to bet on that, but he's shown flashes of being a go-to scorer and hyper athletic wing that ever team is trying to collect these days.

For the Kings, his age has to be one of the most enticing factors, along with his size and position. At 22 years old, Kuminga would become the second-youngest player on the Kings roster, second only to rookie Maxime Raynaud.

With four years in the NBA already, Kuminga has a rare combination of youth and experience that makes him so tantalizing. But once again, is that tantalizing enough for the Kings to budge and unprotect their pick?

Kuminga's biggest knock from the outside looking in is his outside shooting. He shot just 30.5% from three last season and has a career 33.2% clip from deep. In an era defined by the three-point shot, it's hard to invest in someone unproven in that regard.

But Kuminga does excel at getting to, and finishing at, the rim. He shot 71.6% in the restricted area last offseason, which is a great mark for a wing player. That ranked 69th out of the 344 players with at least 50 field goal attempts in the area last season.

Jonathan Kuminga highlight reel dunks pic.twitter.com/dZcsAPTx5I

— Jon Metler (@JonMetler) July 31, 2025

If you look at just Kuminga's shooting splits and career trajectory to date, the answer leans once again to 'no.' But if you look at his four years in Golden State as a starting point and project to the future, you can see all the tools for an All-Star in the making, especially if he develops a more consistent three-point shot. That levels the balance back towards 'yes.'

For the Kings and Scott Perry, the good news is that they can always walk away. Perry is doing his best to quickly reshape the roster, but he doesn't seem to have an urgency to push all of his chips in this offseason.

It's the type of move that if it goes well, Perry will be praised for years, but if it goes poorly, the Kings will be in an even deeper hole that they'll have to dig out of. In the end, the only opinion that matters on if Kuminga is worth an unprotected first-round pick, is Perry's. And then time will give us our final answer years down the line, where I'm sure not a single soul will say "I told you so."