Warriors’ camp "soft opening" complicated by Kuminga standoff
It's just media day, but here we go!
Today the sun rises over the official start of the Golden State Warriors 2025-2026 season. It’s media day in Golden State, with the first practice coming tomorrow (Tuesday), and a preseason game less than a week away. Of course, the familiar faces will be there proselytizing about the stability that they provide, but the eyes and minds of everyone in the building will be shifting over to look at the clock.
It’s ticking for Curry’s 17th season. For a team that is largely dependent on the aging bodies of Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler - reportedly Al Horford too, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
According to reporting from Anthony Slater, and Shams at ESPN, Jonathan Kuminga “won’t be in attendance” at media day, but will presumably appear in tomorrow’s first team practice. The negotiations could come all the way down to the wire, when the single year qualifying offer expires Wednesday at midnight. The stalemate continues the cascade of impacts down the roster, with the Warriors reduced to leaking “news” that players who have long been heavily rumored to be committed to joining the team, once the Kuminga situation settles are for sure doing so.
Al Horford set to join Warriors on multi-year deal
Al Horford, Gary Payton, and De'Anthony Melton will round out the Warriors’ quiet off-season. Reportedly, since no contracts can be signed within the financial limbo hanging over the team at this point we won’t see them at media day either. This negotiation is now directly affecting the team’s preparation for one of the dwindling number of opportunities to capitalize on the brilliance of Stephen Curry.
It’s a ballsy move from Kuminga. And equally bold move for the team to drag their feet so hard while staring down the possibility of losing another high lottery pick for nothing. To me, it’s pretty wild that none of these deals are enticing:
The Warriors have kept their three outstanding offers on the table, sources said. The two most lucrative -- two years, $45 million and three years, $75.2 million -- include team options on the final season, and the only offer without a team option is for three years and $54 million.
With the ongoing roster logjam preventing final details, it’s not entirely clear when the three veterans will be actively joining the Warriors. While Horford’s final contract details are a bit larger and more complicated due to the multi-year structure, there’s still some uncertainty about availability for Tuesday’s practice for the rest of the new players as well.
For today? I guess everyone in house will try to make it as not weird as possible. A tall order. This is the thing. This is what everyone wants to hear folks talk about.
Again, this isn’t just some normal hangup. There have been players at media day with unsettled contract situations before. The timing of all this is terrible. Free agents will need to come up to speed with the systems, find their lockers, deal with HR paperwork… all sorts of non-basketball needs.
Tick tock.
But I don’t want to poo-poo this day too much. After all, this is the launch of another season of watching one of the greatest players of all time work his magic. Al Horford is a fun addition, particularly as a dual threat with Quintin Post. Though they’ll most likely stagger the two big men, and neither is especially fleet afoot, it sounds incredibly fun. Golden State is always looking for spacing solutions in order to capitalize on the attention that Curry draws, and Horford’s old man game will find fertile ground here.
And maybe, in the end that’s why Golden State hasn’t blinked. Curry, Butler, Green, and Horford are the veteran core. Sprinkle in some high performing spot minutes off the bench for players like Payton and Melton - both of whom will likely start some games throughout the long season - and this could maybe all work again.
But the clock, man. The clock. This is not how you lean into your season with a sense of urgency.
What lingers, though, is the sense that this isn’t just another transactional wrinkle. Golden State’s dynasty years were defined by their ability to make chaos feel like choreography. Now, the uncertainty around Kuminga and the timing of these veteran arrivals tilts the balance the other way; it feels like the Warriors are reacting, not dictating. Maybe that’s the most fascinating subplot of all - watching whether this team can still bend turbulence into momentum, or if the clock has finally stolen that superpower.
Predictions
I can’t imagine that being there for the media day, or for the very first preseason practice is any sort of deal breaker. But maybe Kuminga contributing is a critical path issue for the team this year. I know I’m not the only one that feels a sense of stress around this whole situation, but today is a day to sit back and chill. We are all stuck in traffic. Honking won’t change a thing.
It’s time to get excited at the possibilities. Maybe this is the Moses Moody breakout season. Brandin Podziemski is good enough that I know how to spell his name without double checking. Gui is back!
Can we score this one? I’m feeling good about a few things
Jimmy Butler will mercilessly cook Buddy Hield about something extremely silly
Draymond Green still overuses “most definitely”
Golden State (and key players) will frame this offseason not around Kuminga, but that they are excited for the free agents they brought in. Expect a lot of Horford praise.
No trade. Kuminga, even grumpy and on a cheap salary, is better than whatever offers the team has been declining all Summer.