Restricted free agency is a state of limbo that players try desperately to avoid, as the rules are heavily tilted in favor of the teams. This year, in particular, is tough because there were so few teams with cap space, meaning the player had even less leverage. If you need proof, the cases of the Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga and the Nets’ Cam Thomas are perfect examples of how a player can get stuck in restricted free agency.
In the end, the smart money is on Kuminga and Thomas returning to play for their current teams, which could create an awkward dynamic. In both cases, it would be for considerably less money than they think they deserve, and on shorter contracts that could help facilitate a trade.
There have been updates on both in recent days, here is where things stand.
Jonathan Kuminga
The pace of talks around the Warriors forward has picked up, but that doesn't mean the sides are closer to a deal. While Warriors' general manager Mike Dunleavy made what the team considered a fair offer, Kuminga told ESPN’s Anthony Slater that the offers the Warriors have made do not come close to what he is seeking.
But Kuminga hasn't found anything they presented appealing, he said, so the drawn-out negotiations will remain motionless, likely keeping the Warriors' other offseason business on pause. They are the only NBA team not to sign or trade for a player this summer.
There are two reasons why Kuminga is stalled: money and role. On the money side, Kuminga is reportedly seeking a contract in the $30 million a season range, while the Warriors are offering shorter deals, two or three years, in the low $20 million a season range. That's a huge gap.
The other part is the role. Kuminga wants a larger one, to have the ball in his hands more, something he has not consistently had under Steve Kerr in Golden State (even after stretches where he has played well).
That's why the original hope for both sides had been to find a sign-and-trade deal that would get Kuminga to a new situation and the Warriors a first-round pick and a player — except that trade was not out there. Phoenix remains interested and could offer Kuminga a larger role, but they lack a first-round pick to trade and are not exactly deep with talent they want to move anymore. Slater summed it up this way at ESPN.
"Kuminga is in search of a more guaranteed, consistent starting role and featured opportunity, sources said. That's something the Suns and Kings have pitched. Kuminga would be a significant part of the Warriors' rotation to open next season, and they'd need his supplementary scoring on nights when Steph Curry, 37, or Jimmy Butler, 35, rest. That's something coach Steve Kerr has told Kuminga in recent weeks... But Kuminga no longer wants to be a secondary option or a fallback plan, fearing a minimization in important moments."
In the end, the most likely outcome is Kuminga signing a two-year, $45-50ish million contract — then Kerr has to showcase Kuminga, even if Curry and Butler are healthy. The Warriors will need that added shot creation with their current roster, but it also showcases Kuminga as a potential trade asset at the deadline or next summer.
For now, with the NBA season almost three months away from starting, there is no pressure to finalize a deal quickly. So the stalemate continues.
Cam Thomas
Cam Thomas is a bucket getter — 24 points a game last season when healthy, shot 34.9% from 3, and is a guy who draws doubles — and he wants to be paid like an elite scorer.
The Nets don't see it that way, and so the sides are at a stalemate. Thomas is hoping for a contract that averages more than $20 million per season, but the Nets have not offered anything exceeding $14 million per season, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.
"I have not heard that Brooklyn has offered Cam Thomas anything further than a two-year deal with a team option on the second (year) that I don't believe is going much north – if north at all – of the $14.1 million mid-level exception…
"Cam Thomas thinks of himself as one of the most elite play-maker scorers in the NBA, and he wants to be compensated as such… I definitely believes he wants north of $20 (million per year)."
Where the disconnect lies in Thomas' value concerns his level of efficiency in getting buckets and his defense, rather than anything else — teams think he is a one-trick pony, even if it's a really good trick. Thomas got mad at The Ringer’s Zach Lowe when he said the league consensus on Thomas was that of an "empty calorie ball hog." Thomas should not like that, but it doesn't mean Lowe is wrong — that absolutely is the perception of Thomas, fair or not. Thomas said in his defense, "This is most likely the same consensus teams who can't guard me and send double teams from jump ball . Why are we double teaming a guy who's 'not that good' make it make sense please." While nobody is saying Thomas is 'not that good,' the reason teams send doubles is that they don't fear him passing out of it and making the defense scramble (there also isn't a lot of other shot creation on the Brooklyn roster).
There is real value for Thomas around the league, but he needs to get out of Brooklyn, and right now, there is no trade that gets him to someone who will pay him. Expect the sides to settle on a two-year contract, one that (much like Kuminga) is very tradable at the deadline or next summer, to get Thomas somewhere he wants to be.
