LAS VEGAS — Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. has checked off a lot of the boxes on Golden State’s offseason to-do list — so much so that some of the less pressing items are coming into focus.
Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and even Steph Curry are eligible for contract extensions. The negotiating period for Kuminga and Moody, whose rookie scale contracts are set to expire at the end of the 2024-25 season, lasts until the day before the regular season begins. Since Curry is signed for two more seasons, is eligible to tack on an extra year.
There are no indications that Curry or the Warriors are in any rush to hammer something official out.
“That guy can get whatever he wants,” Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said Friday. “It’s been a sprint here getting through the draft and free agency and summer league, but all of that will get figured out. Steph, I think I can say pretty confidently, that he will be a Warrior for life.”
Despite they’re not the most important figure in franchise history, Kuminga and Moody are much more interesting cases.
“That stuff will pick up,” Dunleavy said of extension talk. “We want those guys here. We believe in them, we drafted them.”
Among the Warriors’ young core, Kuminga has the most potential. He made a substantial leap last year, averaging 16.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. He especially excelled while Andrew Wiggins missed time.
But Kuminga’s fit is still a question. He and Wiggins ended up working well together, but lineups with Kuminga, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis lack perimeter shooting. Dunleavy didn’t commit to giving him a guaranteed spot in the Warriors’ starting five.
“I think there’s a big role for Jonathan in the season coming up,” Dunleavy said. “I think he’ll be ready for it. Guy works, he puts the time in, he’s improved at a good rate in the first few years of his career. We’re excited to see what he can do.”
Given where he was drafted in 2021 and how he’s performed, Kuminga has precedents set for him. Scottie Barnes, selected three spots ahead of him, inked a five-year, $225 extension with Toronto that could reach $270 million if he meets a max performance-based criteria (Defensive Player of the Year, MVP, All-NBA selections). Franz Wagner, whom the Magic picked one spot behind Kuminga, signed an extension of the same terms.
Kuminga hasn’t proven as much as either player in his class, but he also hasn’t been handed as the keys as much as them, either. Kuminga was slowly integrated into contending teams instead of featured right away.
Moody’s track record is even murkier, perhaps through no fault of his own. The Warriors internally have liked Moody since they drafted him 14th overall, but Steve Kerr hasn’t given him the runway many young promising players require. Despite logging career highs in practically every counting stat, Moody received seven healthy DNPs and 11 games with fewer than 11 minutes. At one point, the Chase Center crowd implored for him to get more minutes.
As a 3-and-D wing, Moody has shown flashes. But he hasn’t gotten the opportunities to prove it over the long-haul.
“He’s in his third year, he hasn’t played a ton, so you need reps to improve on this stuff,” Kerr said in his end-of-season press conference. “I think (2024-25)’s a big year for Moses. I would love to get him out there more. But when you look at the roster, hey, there’s just a lot of people and we haven’t always been able to get him on the floor.”
Given the Warriors’ offseason additions of Kyle Anderson, De’Anthony Melton and Buddy Hield, Moody is at risk of falling back into rotational purgatory this season. If the Warriors don’t consolidate talent in a trade, they’ll enter the season with that veteran trio, plus Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski and Andrew Wiggins likely ahead of Moody in the pecking order.
It wouldn’t make any sense to extend Moody before even giving him a real shot at playing regularly.
Not extending Moody or Kuminga wouldn’t mean that the 2024-25 season will be their last in a Warriors uniform. They’d become restricted free agents, allowing Golden State to match the terms of any offer sheet they sign.
The advantage to extending them is to maintain team-control for years to come instead of possibly losing them as free agents. Historically, the Warriors have been prone to extend the rookie-scale players they see as part of their future.
“Our focus will always be on retaining guys,” Dunleavy said. “It’s been really important in the past, whether it’s dating back to Steph and Klay and Draymond, or even a guy like Jordan Poole, who we extended. He’s not here with us now, but it was important for us to extend him. And it’ll be important for us try and get deals done with JK and Moses.”