The Trade: Chicago Bulls acquire Jonathan Kuminga via sign-and-trade from the Golden State Warriors for Coby White
Restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga's days with the Warriors appear numbered, as he and the Warriors are "expected to explore sign-and-trade scenarios," per Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic.
Kuminga is a hyper-athletic forward who has flashed dominant foul-drawing potential and two-way impact en route to four-year averages of 12.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists on 50.7 percent shooting in his Golden State career. He also didn't click with the Warriors' read-and-react system, often falling out of the rotation for weeks at a time.
If the Bulls take a chance on Kuminga, who's still just 22, the Warriors should ask for Coby White. His expiring $12.8 million salary in 2025-26 isn't large enough to make an extension realistic in Chicago, and his scoring and shot-creation would address Golden State's most critical weakness.
Base year compensation makes any Kuminga deal tricky.
Let's say Kuminga's new starting salary is $25 million. That'll be the incoming figure for Chicago, but it only counts as $12.5 million in outgoing salary for Golden State. That $25 million figure is right in the range where a Warriors-Bulls deal involving White could work. Any higher or lower, and the parties would have to add money via additional players to hit the sweet spot.
Considering White has played at fringe All-Star levels the past two years, the Warriors might need to include a pick. Then again, Kuminga's upside might result in draft capital heading the other way, depending on his salary figure. We'll just leave this as a straight-up swap for now.