Worldwide Sports News

Steve Kerr states ‘nobody knows' what will happen with Jonathan Kuminga originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

No one knows what the future holds for Jonathan Kuminga, not even his own coach.

Fresh off a DNP-CD (Did Not Play – Coach’s Decision) in the Warriors’ win over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, Kuminga’s role with Golden State — once again — is in question moving forward. A two-year, $48.5 million contract resolved a months-long standoff this past offseason between Kuminga’s camp and the Warriors. However, his fluctuating minutes and being in and out of Kerr’s rotations — as he has been over the last four years with Golden State — reintroduce some questions and concerns.

Kerr, speaking to reporters after practice Wednesday, shared that the offseason contract saga isn’t affecting things on his end, but the coach could see it lingering over Kuminga.

“It’s not impacting anything for us. So you’d have to ask him. I can imagine it’s not easy for him, and we’ve talked about the situation. My desire for JK is to become the best player he can possibly be, regardless of where he ends up, whether it’s here or elsewhere.

“I tell my guys a lot, there’s so few players who end up playing for one team their entire career. It rarely happens. I played for six different teams. None of us know what’s going to happen with JK or pretty much any of our guys, although I would advise Mike [Dunleavy] not to trade Steph [Curry].”

Kuminga’s DNP-CD in Chicago was his first of the 2025-26 season, and just the latest bump of his up-and-down Warriors tenure.

Kerr later explained the reasoning behind his decision to bench Kuminga, frankly stating that the young wing hadn’t been playing well at that time.

Almost instantly, trade rumors began to fly as ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported that the Warriors are expected to explore Kuminga’s trade market in the coming weeks, with the possibility of a divorce before the NBA’s Feb. 5 trade deadline remaining “strong.” One of Kuminga’s offseason trade interests, the Sacramento Kings, reportedly still are open to continuing negotiations with Golden State.

“But this is part of being in the league,” Kerr told reporters. “I’ve talked to Moses [Moody] about this, I’ve talked to JK about it. I’ve talked to most of our guys, really. It’s a really weird league. It’s a weird business to be in because you have to fully commit to the team that you’re playing for, knowing full well that that team may trade you or cut you. And that’s a really hard thing to reconcile as a player. But the sooner guys can recognize it, the better. The guys who end up playing for a long time figure that out, and they understand that you can’t just say, ‘Fine, I’ll be a mercenary’ either.

“You really do have to commit to whatever group you’re with. But if you’re getting moved around, it’s not easy to deal with, especially if you’ve never been traded. That first one is weird and difficult. And I can speak from experience. It’s not an easy situation, but nobody knows what’s going to happen. My goal is to get JK to play at the highest level that’ll help us win that he can.”

The Warriors host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, and it’s evident there will be extra eyes on how — and if — Kerr plugs Kuminga back into his rotation or not.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

The Oklahoma City Thunder equalled the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history as they overpowered the Phoenix Suns 138-89 in the NBA Cup quarter-finals.

Defending champions the Thunder have won 24 of their first 25 games, equalling the Golden State Warriors' record from 2015-16.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, last season's Most Valuable Player, scored 28 points at Paycom Center, hitting the 20-point mark for a 96th straight game.

It was a franchise record 16th straight win for the Thunder, who face the San Antonio Spurs in the semi-finals in Las Vegas on Saturday.

"Winning is never boring," said Thunder forward Jalen Williams.

The Thunder have won 92 of their 107 regular-season games since the start of 2024-25, having topped last season's Western Conference with a 68-14 record.

The record for most wins in an NBA season is 73, achieved by the Warriors in 2015-16.

The Spurs reached the semi-finals by beating the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119 at Crypto.com Arena.

The NBA Cup is the competition's annual in-season tournament, with all matches except the final counting towards the regular-season standings.

The Thunder were beaten in last year's final by the Milwaukee Bucks.

• NBA scores & fixtures

With the NBA Cup creating an unusual schedule, this is an ideal moment to reassess your roster and dig into the latest fantasy basketball news. Evolving NBA depth charts and unexpected injuries are reshaping roles across the league, creating new opportunities to add impact players before the rest of your league reacts. Let's break down six widely available options worth consideration.

Top Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Picks

Derik Queen, New Orleans Pelicans (48% rostered)

Queen made history Monday when he recorded 33 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and four blocks in a loss to the Spurs. He became one of five players ever to post a 30-point triple-double before turning 21 years old. The other four on that list are big names in LeBron James, Luka Dončić, Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox.

Zion Williamson (adductor) is out for at least the next three weeks. Given his checkered injury history, it's difficult to have much faith in him staying on the floor, even when he does return from his most recent ailment. With their 3-22 record, the Pelicans aren't likely to push Williamson to play if he's not completely healthy. Queen has the potential to be a fantasy difference maker from here on out.

Neemias Queta, Boston Celtics (38% rostered)

Queta is logging 24 minutes per game as the starting center for the Celtics. That's not exactly a hefty workload, but it has still enabled him to average 10.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. He has also shot 65.8% from the field. Although his 62.8% shooting from the free-throw line isn't great, he's not tanking fantasy managers in that department because he has only averaged 2.0 free-throw attempts per game.

Despite the moves that the Celtics made to weaken their roster during the offseason, they are 15-9 out of the gate. It would be a shock if they didn't at least make the Play-In Tournament at this point. If Jayson Tatum (Achilles) comes back, they could really make some noise in the Eastern Conference. They are still thin at center, though, so unless they make a trade, Queta is in line to play a prominent role in their playoff push.

Jay Huff, Indiana Pacers (30% rostered)

The writing was on the wall with Huff when he averaged 0.9 blocks in just 12 minutes per game with the Grizzlies last season. It took him some time to work his way into a prominent role with the Pacers, but he has now started six straight games. During that span, he averaged 10.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.8 three-pointers and 3.7 blocks. The key is, he logged 25 minutes per game.

The Pacers are 4-2 since moving Huff into their starting lineup. Given his contributions on the defensive end, he has a great opportunity to remain in the role moving forward. His only real competition for minutes right now is Isaiah Jackson, who has played just 18 minutes a game since Huff became a starter. Fantasy managers who need blocks should make adding Huff a priority.

Jeremiah Fears, New Orleans Pelicans (29% rostered)

Queen isn't the only exciting rookie on the Pelicans. They didn't waste much time putting Fears in a prominent role, moving him into the starting lineup in their third game of the season. He hasn't relinquished the job. As a starter, he has averaged 15.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 three-pointers. The downside has been him shooting 42.3% from the field.

Jordan Poole (quadriceps) is nearing a return, but even when he does come back, it's not likely that he removes Fears from the starting five. If anything, the Pelicans might be looking to trade Poole. The long-term concern with Fears is that Dejounte Murray (Achilles) is aiming to return in January. Still, when he does come back, he could be on a minutes restriction for a while. We could get at least another month of Fears being a significant fantasy contributor, and possibly longer.

Ryan Nembhard, Dallas Mavericks (23% rostered)

After being inserted into the Mavericks' starting lineup, Nembhard immediately provided some juicy fantasy stat lines. He was then tested in his last two games with difficult matchups against the Thunder and Rockets, who are the top two teams in the league in defensive rating. First, he produced 10 points, four assists and two three-pointers against the Thunder. He followed that up with 11 points, seven assists and a steal against the Rockets.

Nembhard playing well against the best defensive teams in the league is certainly encouraging for his fantasy outlook moving forward. The Mavericks lost to the Thunder (who doesn't?), but they pulled off the upset over the Rockets. With Nembhard as a starter, they have a 4-2 record. That should help him retain his starting job moving forward.

Maxime Raynaud, Sacramento Kings (22% rostered)

Domantas Sabonis has played at least 70 games in each of the last three seasons. That won't happen this season, as he is currently out with a partially torn meniscus in his left knee. Drew Eubanks was provided an opportunity to start when Sabonis got hurt, but he wasn't able to make much of an impact. That has resulted in Raynaud surpassing him on the Kings depth chart. Across the last five games, the rookie center has averaged 15.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocks.

The Kings can make some odd lineup decisions, but with how well Raynaud has played, it would be shocking if he lost minutes to Eubanks moving forward. Those in deeper formats who need a big man should look for Raynaud on their waiver wire.

LeBron James refused to look too far into the future to say what kind of team the Lakers might be when the playoffs arrive in April while they are still playing games in December.

Even though it was the NBA Cup quarterfinal game the Lakers lost to the San Antonio Spurs, 132-119, James didn’t want to venture into how things would unfold.

Two years ago, when the Lakers went to Las Vegas and won the inaugural NBA Cup championship, James cautioned then that they had a long way to go and that that wasn’t an indicator or what that team could accomplish.

Not making it to Las Vegas this time and instead now having to play the Suns in Phoenix on Sunday, James was asked where the Lakers stand long term when it comes to competing for the playoffs.

"It's December what?" James responded.

He was told it was December 10.

“And you're talking about the playoffs? Nah, can't do that. It's not OK. Not my mindset,” James said. “I don't. I can't think about what we can do in the playoffs in December. What I can say is that the habits that we built throughout the regular season each month, if we are in a position to make it to the postseason and be able to get to that point, well, we have to build it now. But as far as talking about what type of damage we're gonna do in the postseason in December, that's not right for the basketball gods, not for me."

Read more:Lakers' Luka Doncic channels his girl dad strength for triple-double against 76ers

James’ team showed they still have so many holes to fill on defense, a sign of how far they have to go to be a championship-quality team.

The Lakers allowed the Spurs to shoot 50% from the field, 44.7% from three-point range, seemingly being unable to slow down the faster and more athletic young Spurs who were playing without their best player, center Victor Wembanyama (left calf strain).

Still, the Spurs had seven players score in double figures, led by Stephon Castle’s 30 points and De’Aaron Fox’s 20.

They will face the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinals in Las Vegas on Saturday.

“Obviously, it's a unique team. They got six guys that can literally, six or seven guys that can break you down off the dribble,” James said about the Spurs. “Super fast, super quick. Some of them are stronger, some of them are faster, some are quicker ball-handlers. Unique team and they definitely got the best of us."

For the 17-7 Lakers, they will improve on defense.

“I think it was more defensively tonight,” said Luka Doncic, who had 35 points and eight assists. “ They were just dragging us. We scored (119) points. So, I think it’s enough to win. We just got to be better (on defense).”

The Lakers got down by as much as 24 points in the fourth and made a run to get to within eight points late in the fourth quarter.

Marcus Smart came off the bench to score 26 and James had 19 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists.

When the Lakers needed someone to lift them when they got down by 18 points in the second, they got it from the oldest player on the court, 40-year-old James.

James drove down the lane and threw down a thunderous dunk over Spurs 7-1 center Luke Kornet, bringing the Lakers to within eight points and charging up the crowd in the process.

James growled and yelled in the face of the reeling Kornet. The crowd stood and cheered, now happy that there was a Lakers’ awakening.

But the Lakers couldn’t hold on to that momentum, falling behind 70-58 at the half.

And then when the third quarter started, the Lakers came out flat, giving up back-to-back threes and two more easy baskets for the Spurs to fall into an 80-60 hole early in the third.

“It was just a play. You always wish, you hope that momentum plays would carry over,” James said. “And that was a moment where we had an opportunity. We had two straight turnovers after that. It went from an eight-point game to a 12-point game to end the half. So we did have some momentum going into the halftime and then started the third, we went back down 20.”

Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.