Jonathan Kuminga Gives One-Word Update on Knee Injury Timetable

After the Golden State Warriors' 134-117 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday, ESPN's Anthony Slater asked Jonathan Kuminga when he'll return from his bout with knee tendonitis.

"Soon," Kuminga told Slater.

Slater added that Kuminga "didn’t give a specific date but sounded like his plan was to increase court activity this week."

Kuminga has missed the last six games.

Timeline of Kuminga's Injury and the Drama Surrounding It

After Draymond Green's agendas comment following Golden State's Nov. 11 loss to the Thunder, Kuminga was pulled out of the starting lineup for the Warriors' Nov. 12 game against the Spurs. Kuminga played the first half before being ruled out with the knee injury for the second half. He hasn't played since.

On Thursday, Slater published an article with a team source saying, "He feels like the scapegoat again."

On Sunday, Steve Kerr told reporters that he didn't know when Kuminga would be back and that the injury "was worse than we thought."

Regarding the injury's outlook, Kerr said, "He can tell you better than I could."

The Athletic's Nick Friedell was seemingly the first reporter to ask Kuminga about the injury timetable after Kerr's Sunday comments. Here's what he wrote about it:

"During the Warriors' open locker room period before Monday's game, The Athletic approached Kuminga, who declined to comment. When told that it was [head coach Steve Kerr] who told the media to ask Kuminga himself how he was doing in recovery, he again declined to comment."

Friedell asked Kerr about his progress on Tuesday, and here's what the head coach said:

Kerr said Kuminga will be out again Wed. vs. Rockets. Kerr said Kuminga was able to get some 3-on-3 work in before practice. The plan is for him to get some 5-on-5 work in tomorrow before the game. Kuminga will talk to the training staff after that and they will see how he feels.
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) November 25, 2025

All Signs Continue to Point to a Mid-January Trade

It's hard to understand why Kuminga is not being forthcoming about his injury timetable. Perhaps he simply doesn't know when he'll feel healthy enough to play and this whole thing is being blown out of proportion.

But in any event, there's plenty of reasons to believe Kuminga will be traded when first eligible in mid-January.

During offseason contract negotiations, Kuminga's agent Aaron Turner had this to say about what kind of contract the Warriors should offer Kuminga:

"If [the Warriors] want to win now, if you want a guy that's happy and treated fairly who is a big part of this team, we believe, moving forward, you give him the player option," Turner said. "You do lose a little of that trade value [giving that up]. But if it's about the here and now, you give him that. You don't get a perfect deal, but you get a pretty good deal and he gets to feel respected about what he gets and we all move on and worry about winning, helping Steph."

The Warriors ended up giving Kuminga a two-year, $46.8 million deal with the second year as a team option.

Having a team option makes the contract easier to trade, which could make Kuminga think the Warriors are more interested in using it as a trade chip than keeping him past this year's trade deadline.

That combined with Kuminga reportedly feeling like a scapegoat again suggests a trade would be best for both parties.