In the direct aftermath of Jonathan Kuminga who signed again at the Golden State Warriors, it seemed as if the Phoenix Suns were no longer in the race to acquire the uprising. However, what the framework of Kuminga’s contract entails is that a trade is imminent.
A lot could change between now and the NBA trading decline of 2026, but the next step from Phoenix is clear: deciding who to exchange for Kuminga between Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green.
Kuminga again signed with the Warriors with a two -year contract of $ 48.5 million with a team option for the second season. The widespread expectation is that the two parties will work on finding a mutually affordable trade in 2025-26 to give both parties a new start.
The new Kuminga team is then expected to refuse the team option and sign the 22-year-old to a multi-year deal in the same reach of $ 24.25 million per season.
The Suns will probably be one of the teams who are interested in Kuminga after trying to sign and act for him in 2025. If that flourishes, then there are two players who will probably arise as intriguing talents that the warriors could strive for: Brooks or Green.
It is unclear which of the two players would be more ideal for Phoenix to move at this stage of the consideration process, but a deal for Kuminga remains a feasible option.
Suns must decide whether one of Dillon Brooks or Jalen Green can be replaced in a potential Jonathan Kuminga trade
Brooks and Green are the most likely players who are traded for Kuminga for two obvious reasons. First, they are talented wings that can immediately offer value to a Warriors side that needs talent under 30 that can strengthen the floor and strengthen the defense or create dribbling penetration.
The other reality in the game is that Brooks’s 2025-26 salary of $ 21,124.110 and Green’s figure of $ 33,584,499 would enable the negotiation process to take a realistic turn.
Neither salary is perfectly leashed, which means that other players should be admitted to carry out a transaction. It is the kind of talents that the Warriors would probably give priority, which makes this more viable than what the Suns could offer differently.
Regardless of who else is packaged with or for Brooks or Green, the bottom line is that the next step from Phoenix will be to evaluate which player can actually be spent.
Brooks fits ideal in Phoenix as a vocal defender who can help organize the team’s efforts that end of the floor. He also comes from a season in which he had made an average of 14.0 points and 2.5 three-point field goals at 39.7 percent shooting from outside the arc, so that the scope of his 3-and-D options is displayed.
With this in mind, the Warriors Brooks can very well make a priority in the hope of creating a stronger defensive circumference, while at the same time strengthening their shooting.
Green is now an explosive athlete with a solid spring shot and proven at the age of only 23. In 2024-25 he had made an average of 21.0 points and 2.9 three-point field goals at .423/.354/.813 shooting. He also shot 46.7 percent out of 10.5 discs per match, which would help Golden State to replace the skill that defines the value of Kuminga.
It is unclear whether the Warriors will actually try to act for Brooks or Green, but the next move of the Suns is clear: decide which of the two players, as one of them, can be spent in a possible movement for Kuminga.
#movement #Suns #signing #Jonathan #Kuminga #painfully #clear