With the start of Warriors training camp rapidly approaching, a resolution to Jonathan Kuminga’s contract status could finally be on the horizon.

The Warriors forward’s agent, Aaron Turner, said this week that Kuminga would take the $7.9 million qualifying offer that has been available to him since June unless he and the team can agree on a better deal. The deadline for Kuminga to accept the qualifying offer, which would make the 22-year-old an unrestricted free agent after this season and includes a no-trade clause, is Oct. 1.

Golden State Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga #00 dunks in the fourth quarter of their NBA game against the Indiana Pacers at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) 

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If Jonathan Kuminga returns, how will he fit with Warriors?

“There’s a lot of upside,” Turner said on the “The Hoop Collective” podcast that aired Friday morning. “He wants to pick where he wants to go. So the QO is real for sure.”

Turner added, “If (the Warriors) want to win now, if you want a guy that’s happy and treated fairly who is a big part of this team, we believe, moving forward, you give him the player option. You do lose a little of that trade value (giving that up). But if it’s about the here and now, you give him that. You don’t get a perfect deal, but you get a pretty good deal and he gets to feel respected about what he gets and we all move on and worry about winning, helping Steph (Curry).”

Kuminga’s contract status has dominated the Warriors’ offseason. The team currently has just nine players on the roster and is the only team in the league that hasn’t signed a free agent. Finalizing a deal with Kuminga would clear the way to round out the roster. Warriors owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy reportedly met with Kuminga and Turner last month but a deal could not be worked out.

Golden State Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga (00) and Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) make a celebratory gesture after they exited the game in the fourth quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 

The Warriors’ biggest stars reportedly have tried to intervene as well. Curry and Draymond Green have reached out to Kuminga, according to ESPN, and Jimmy Butler contacted Warriors management to get a status report, according to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson. Johnson said on his “Dubs Talk” podcast that Butler wanted “to know the plan” and that Curry and Green are also “in the loop.”

The saga began before the start of last season when the sides could not reach an agreement on a multi-year deal — on “The Hoop Collective,” Turner denied reports that the Warriors offered a five-year, $150 million extension, saying Kuminga “would have taken that.”  When Kuminga turned down the qualifying offer in June, he became a restricted free agent.

Since then, the Warriors have made several long-term offers and other teams have inquired about the No. 7 overall pick from the 2021 draft. The Sacramento Kings, Washington Wizards, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets reportedly all had interest in Kuminga. The Warriors and Kumingan’s camp have been unsuccessful in finding sign-and-trade options that fit Golden State’s salary cap.

According to ESPN, the deals include a $75.2 million, three-year package with a team option that would guarantee Kuminga nearly $50 million, as well as a $45 million two-year deal (with an option after the first year) and a $54 million, three-year deal. According to ESPN, Kuminga would consider the longer deals if it was a player option.

“If JK wants to take it, it does have upside, right?” Turner said on the podcast. “You’re not getting traded. You’re going to have unrestricted free agency (next summer). People are going to say, ‘Well, Aaron, there’s not going to be 10 or 12 teams (with cap space).’ Fine, there’ll be six teams with cap space for the clear-cut under-35 top wing on the market. So there’s a lot of upside.”

Golden State Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga (00) dribbles against New Orleans Pelicans’ Javonte Green (4) in the third quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 

Complicating matters is that Kuminga doesn’t appear to have a clear role with the Warriors – or the starring role he envisions for himself. Kuminga likely would continue to be a reserve with the starting forward spots going to Butler and Green, and the Warriors expected to sign free agent Al Horford to start at center.

Kuminga is a rotation regular, but has started in just 84 of the 258 regular-season games he has appeared in over the past four seasons. He averaged 15.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season. Kuminga took a larger role during the Warriors’ Western Conference Semifinals against Minnesota after Curry went down with a hamstring injury, scoring 18, 30, 23 and 26 points in the final four games of the playoff series.