Sixers, not Boston Celtics, the team that can trade for disgruntled Warriors starter.
MassLive’s Brian Robb sees the Philadelphia 76ers, not the Boston Celtics, being the likeliest contender to make a move on disgruntled Golden State Warriors starter Jonathan Kuminga — who revealed his frustrations and that he was “losing faith” in head coach Steve Kerr — while answering a reader’s question about the Cs pursuing the forward during Robb’s latest Celtics Mailbag.
“Kuminga is certainly a name to watch given the turmoil with the Warriors but like you said, I don’t buy him for Boston,” Robb prefaced before saying, “If he wants a bigger role than he’s getting there, it’s certainly not happening here as a bench player. The 76ers would be an intriguing bet for them but he’s making money next year $7.6 million so that would eat into their potential max cap room that they are reportedly planning for. If the 76ers do make a run at him regardless, I don’t think he turns the Sixers into a much scarier team. A lack of a reliable jump shot this season has really limited his ceiling.”
As NBA insider Shams Charania revealed on FanDuelTV’s Run It Back podcast, the Warriors are open for business when it comes to everyone on their roster outside of Steph Curry.
“The mindset in Golden State right now is everyone except Stephen Curry is on the table,” Charania said (h/t Blue Man Hoop). “That’s their mindset. Realistically there’s an asterisk — Klay Thompson, would they want to keep him long-term? That’s been their hope, they have not been able to reach a contract extension with him.”
Warriors players Boston Celtics front office could be interested in
Knowing the Celtics don’t plan on making a game-changing splash ahead of the trade deadline, you can write off the chances of Boston’s front office pursuing Draymond Green, Chris Paul, Andrew Wiggins, or Klay Thompson. It’d take Al Horford, Derrick White, or Jrue Holiday for any of those players, and, well, that’s not happening.
Payton Pritchard’s inconsistency could have the C’s front office temporarily taking a look at someone like Gary Payton II, but the 2022 NBA Champion guard is far too injury-prone to risk giving up Fast PP’s shooting for. Brandin Podziemski is far more intriguing and cost-controlled, but the Warriors may not want to give up on him just yet; not without ditching either Wiggins’, Thompson’s, or Paul’s contract. Ditto for Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Veterans like Cory Joseph and Dario Saric could be had for cheap and fit into the Grant Williams TPE. That’s probably the move for the Boston Celtics front office here.
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