Kings Have 'Unrealistic' Chance to Land Warriors' Young Forward Due to Key Reason: Report

Kings Have 'Unrealistic' Chance to Land Warriors' Young Forward Due to Key Reason: Report originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Next season is going to be interesting for the Sacramento Kings. They continue to push into mediocrity.

The roster, simply put, isn't good enough -- and not particularly close, either -- to contend for an NBA title. The addition of Dennis Schroder doesn't put the Kings over the edge, and their core of Malik Monk, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis isn't a threat in a loaded Western Conference.

Even worse, the Kings don't have a young player with star potential to pivot to build around.

Sacramento has been rumored to be in the running to acquire Jonathan Kuminga in free agency, though. They've been heavily linked to the 22-year-old forward, though he's a restricted free agent.

The Golden State Warriors can match any offer sheet Kuminga signs. They can also decide to sign-and-trade him, which is the Kings' only likely path to landing the G League Ignite product.

However, despite there being an avenue for Sacramento to land what would be a young building block, the Kings have one major wrinkle in the way. After signing Schroder, they can't offer Kuminga what he's aiming to be paid.

Why Kings have unrealistic chance to land Kuminga

Furthermore, they don't have the ability to offload the salary needed to make room for Kuminga, according to a recent report from ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel.

"The Sacramento Kings, who have made it known around the league that they are interested in the young forward, were never close to finalizing a sign-and-trade with Golden State, sources said. After finalizing a sign-and-trade with the Detroit Pistons for Dennis Schroder, the Kings are just below $10 million from their first-apron hard cap," Siegel reports. "If they were to make a serious push for Kuminga at this stage of the offseason, Sacramento would need to find a way to move either DeMar DeRozan or Malik Monk to open space for a big contract. Nobody believes this is a real path that will develop during Summer League."

More than likely, Kuminga will return to the Warriors. The Kings will struggle to move away from DeRozan and have already struggled to deal Monk in a trade. Golden State doesn't have a need for either of those players, meaning it will have to be a more intricate deal for Sacramento in this hypothetical, making the scenario even more unlikely.

The Kings would be smart to land Kuminga, though. He could be the reason the team opts for a much-needed rebuild and roster reset. It doesn't seem like it's going to happen, though.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 14, 2025, where it first appeared.