{"id":150872,"date":"2025-07-17T16:15:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T20:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=150872"},"modified":"2025-07-17T16:15:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T20:15:01","slug":"suns-in-talks-for-jonathan-kuminga-not-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/17\/suns-in-talks-for-jonathan-kuminga-not-the-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Busy Offseason Team In Talks For Jonathan Kuminga \u2014 Not The First Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX<\/strong> \u2013 The Phoenix Suns<\/a> keep reshaping their roster at breakneck speed. After they bought out<\/a> Bradley Beal<\/a>, they quickly pivoted to their next major move \u2014 building a new contender around Devin Booker<\/a>. That plan now apparently includes a Jonathan Kuminga pursuit<\/a>, a twist many didn\u2019t see coming.<\/p>\n

The Suns Are In Talks For Jonathan Kuminga \u2014 Not The First Time<\/h2>\n

A Disastrous Season Spurs Big Changes<\/h3>\n

Missing the play-in marked rock bottom for the Suns. They spent more than any team in NBA history yet failed to deliver results. Since the final buzzer, Matt Ishbia has been busy cleaning house. First, he brought in Brian Gregory as general manager and Jordan Ott as head coach.<\/a> Then he pulled off a blockbuster, sending Kevin Durant<\/a> to Houston for Jalen Green<\/a>, Dillon Brooks<\/a>, and the No. 10 pick in June\u2019s draft. That pick became Khaman Maluach<\/a>, an intriguing big man with serious upside. The Suns also strengthened their frontcourt with Mark Williams.<\/a><\/p>\n

Then came the Beal buyout. Phoenix now carries $19.4 million in dead money for five years \u2014 a tough pill and a desperate reset.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Kuminga Saga Heats Up<\/h3>\n
\"The
Nov 30, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) puts up a layup over Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga (00) during the second half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now, all eyes are back on the Suns-Kuminga move. Jake Fischer via The Stein Line<\/em> reports<\/a> Kuminga\u2019s camp, led by agent Aaron Turner, has talked to Warriors executives multiple times in Las Vegas. They want a deal that pays Kuminga at least $25 million a year, whether that\u2019s with Golden State<\/a> or elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Golden State has hesitated. They don\u2019t want to overpay long-term unless they get real value back \u2014 meaning first-round picks and\/or impact players. That\u2019s where Phoenix runs into trouble. Fischer writes, \u201cSources say Phoenix, meanwhile, is the latest team to express exploratory interest in a Kuminga sign-and-trade … challenging as it would be for the Suns to make such a deal happen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Not Their First Dance<\/h3>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time the Suns have pursued Kuminga. Sources told Fischer the Suns and Warriors discussed Jonathan Kuminga when Golden State tried to bring Durant back before the February deadline. Instead, the Warriors pivoted and landed Jimmy Butler<\/a>. Still, Kuminga\u2019s name stayed on the table.<\/p>\n

The Road Ahead<\/h3>\n

So, what now? Phoenix doesn\u2019t hold the kind of draft picks or young talent Golden State wants. Still, the Suns being in talks for Kuminga shows Ishbia won\u2019t back down from aggressive moves, even after all the roster shuffling.<\/p>\n

If the Suns can\u2019t land Kuminga now, don\u2019t rule out another run at him later. Phoenix wants to stack talent around Booker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2013 The Phoenix Suns keep reshaping their roster at breakneck speed. After they bought out Bradley Beal, they quickly pivoted to their next major move \u2014 building a new contender around Devin Booker. That plan now apparently includes a Jonathan Kuminga pursuit, a twist many didn\u2019t see coming. The Suns Are In Talks For […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":150876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,25,3,28,4721],"tags":[50219,4297,4975,4557],"class_list":["post-150872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-warriors","category-news","category-suns","category-trade-rumors","tag-2025-nba-free-agents","tag-jonathan-kuminga","tag-nba-contracts","tag-nba-offseason"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150872"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150878,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150872\/revisions\/150878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}