The Jonathan Kuminga saga has gone on for longer than perhaps anybody has been expecting or hoping for. Starting from last season, where he played minimal minute in the first round of the playoffs before going off in the absence of Steph Curry in the second round, to his offseason contract debacle, to his roller-coaster of a 2025-26 regular season, to now being reinserted back into the starting because of Jimmy Butler's ACL tear after he demanded a trade just a week prior — it's a wild ride that has seemed to capture an awful lot of opinions on both sides of the argument.

Kuminga played extremely well in his game and a half before he was hurt on Thursday. He scored an efficient 30 points in 30 minutes of play between the Raptors game and the Mavericks game, but an ankle and knee issue will keep him out of at least the first Timberwolves game on Sunday.

On the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast this week, NBA legend and NBC studio analyst Carmelo Anthony gave his thoughts on the Jonathan Kuminga situation, first expressing his relative surprise and underlying understanding of Kuminga's trade demand stemming from his odd fit with the Warriors as a system and a team.

"Steve Kerr is not coaching potential. He's coaching the system, and for them to not play you 16-straight games, there's been times when ... you play the whole bench and still ain't play that man. So that's telling me, you really ain't f*** with me. I don't know how to handle that as a young kid. Nobody else is telling him how to handle that. So the only thing I know is 'I don't wanna be here, I'm unhappy.'"

Anthony went on to address what the Butler injury means for Kuminga moving forward and how the Warriors need to handle this situation for the good of their team.

"He's going to play. It's just, how do you expect the mindset to shift like that when I know you don't really f*** with me like that? You have to, as a front office, make it competitive, as long as Steph (Curry) is there. They still have pieces — we was just singing a different tune when Jimmy was there 5 days ago. Golden State gotta hurry up and come up with a plan, fast. You could trade Kuminga, and you could get something nice back that's going to help you go out there and compete right now, because we got to focus on right now. Steve Kerr's done, Draymond gonna be done, Steph gonna be done, then what?"

Anthony's assessment that the Warriors can get something nice back for Kuminga is mostly true, but limited in scope.

Kuminga is likely the Warriors' best physical asset outside of their star players, even with his absence in the rotation for most of December and January. However, their real best trade absence is what Anthony also alluded to: what happens when Curry is gone?

The Warriors' draft picks in 2027 and beyond, when Curry is more than likely going to be retired or taking a step back from his current talent, are projected to be extremely valuable. It's a decision for the Warriors' front office to make on how much they want to go in on this season and next season in their trade. If they package Kuminga with one or two picks, they can likely pick up a couple of great role players or a very capable sub-star to replace Butler, but if they try to trade Kuminga alone, it would likely end up in a one-for-one role player swap.

Decisions will need to be made sooner rather than later by Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the rest of the front office.