The Detroit Pistons returned to the postseason this year and pushed the New York Knicks to the brink before falling in six games. Now that the postseason drought has ended, the Pistons will look to build off their success during the 2024-25 campaign once the offseason officially opens this summer.
With several young pieces of the core already in place, Detroit is in a position to continue to add players that fit in with the timeline around Cade Cunningham, Amen Thompson, Jalen Duren, and more. This makes one recent lottery pick caught up in a situation where veterans are ahead of him in the rotation very attainable, and the Pistons would be wise to inquire what it would take to get a deal done.
Pistons Trade Option Jonathan Kuminga Just Became Easier to Acquire
While injuries limited him to just 47 appearances during the 2024-25 season, Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga proved he can be a difference-maker when given regular opportunities to play. This past season, Kuminga followed up his successful 2023-24 campaign by averaging 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 24 minutes per game.
In almost any other scenario, a 22-year-old former lottery pick putting up numbers like that would be considered a core piece of the puzzle. This is not the case in San Francisco, and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr made it as clear as he could that he doesn't envision Kuminga seeing any major bump in usage moving forward.
“It’s a tricky one because Jonathan obviously is gifted and wants to play a bigger role and wants to play more,” Kerr told Tim Kawakami. “And for me, I’ve been asked to win. And right now, he’s not a guy who I can say I’m going to play 38 minutes with the roster that we have — Steph and Jimmy and Draymond — and put the puzzle together that way and expect to win. …
“All I do is I try to win. That doesn’t necessarily mean everybody’s going to be happy, whether it’s the fans, or the players, or management, whatever, it’s just I’ve gotta do what I think is best.”
With Kuminga on the verge of entering restricted free agency this offseason, Kerr's comments show that the front office values the forward but knows they will have to think twice about matching any offer sheet he may sign. This is where Detroit's front office can take advantage of the spot the Warriors find themselves in.
We've seen teams get creative with the offers made to restricted free agents to make things more difficult for their former team to retain them. This can be done by front-loading the money in the contract to force an unwanted luxury tax scenario on the franchise the player would be coming from. With big-money players already under contract, this is an option that Golden State would likely prefer to avoid.
Tobias Harris will be entering the final year of his deal once the 2025-26 season tips off and adding Kuminga to the fold now would allow Detroit to get out in front of that need and have someone in place, likely on a more team-friendly contract, to move forward with as part of its young core.
It is still far too early to predict what the Pistons will do this summer but if Kuminga is on their radar, as many pundits have suggested he should be, then Kerr's comments could make swinging a deal for the lottery pick easier to accomplish.