It is probably a tad too generous to say that the Philadelphia 76ers have averted some sort of a disaster here and there given the not-so-enviable position they currently find themselves in as a franchise, but with respect to this particular matter, the front office definitely dodged a ticking bomb.
As some fans know (and some have already forgotten), at some point in time last season, the 76ers expressed interest in trading for Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga. Back then, he was coming off an impressive season where he averaged more than 16 points per game on nearly 53 percent shooting from the field despite playing just around 26 minutes per contest for Golden State.
Philly had a ton of cap space at that juncture, so there was a viable route that could have sent Kuminga to the 76ers in a sign-and-trade scenario. But lo and behold, the team presumably decided against pursuing the seventh overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, pulling out altogether from their rumored pursuit.
Turns out, the 76ers made the right choice, and in doing so, they indeed averted what would have been a terrible situation to be in.
The 76ers did the right thing moving away from Jonathan Kuminga
Kuminga, who is a restricted free agent at the moment, has had the most notable push-and-pull with his ball club among all restricted free agents, a list that includes Quentin Grimes. The Warriors are clearly not going to offer him the lofty figure that he wants, especially after he turned in a wildly disappointing campaign last season.
As a result, Golden State is reportedly exploring trade routes involving Kuminga, who has become a difficult player to tame for their coaching staff. Heck, according to Warriors insider Anthony Slater, the 22-year-old is not interested in being a secondary option — a bold, if not outlandish, statement to make for a player housed in a team boasting the likes of Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler.
Can you imagine if the 76ers seriously hunted Kuminga down last year? Not only would the front office have to deal with his unrealistic pecuniary wants, but the coaching staff would have also been handed someone on a meltdown risk. If this is his disposition, he probably would have struck a lot of nerves on the bench.
Kuminga has the raw talent, but he certainly does not have the pedigree nor the actual capacity to push the likes of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey down the pecking order. At this point in his career, he should be more worried about strengthening his foundations as a player, not eating into opportunities better off tendered to someone else.
Given these antics, the Philadelphia 76ers inarguably dodged a bullet by passing up on the prospect of trading for Jonathan Kuminga. The fanbase would have shredded him and the team if that funky partnership came to fruition.