What happens if Jonathan Kuminga declines the qualifying offer?

SAN FRANCISCO – Jonathan Kuminga’s time in contract limbo appears destined to go down to the Wednesday night wire. 

The restricted free agent who averaged 15.3 points per game last season has until 9 p.m. PT on Wednesday — the second day of Warriors training camp to accept the $7.9 million qualifying offer. 

If he accepts the offer, then he will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. 

ESPN has reported that the Warriors, who drafted Kuminga with the No. 7 pick in the 2021 draft, have also offered him multiple contracts of varying lengths and values. 

The offers have included a three-year, $75.2 million deal that includes a team option as the third year, a $45 million two-year offer and a $54 million three-season contract. If he accepts one of those offers, the outcome is self-evident. 

But if Kuminga is set on leaving the Warriors in search of a more featured offensive role, what is stopping the 22-year-old from not picking up the qualifying offer?

Well, that would not make him a free agent. Per the NBA’s website: 

“Qualifying offers expire on Oct. 1, but can be extended. However, the extension of a qualifying offer cannot go past March 1. If the deadline passes and the qualifying offer is neither withdrawn nor accepted, the player continues to be a restricted free agent. Teams and players are free to negotiate a new contract after the qualifying offer expires as the deadline only affects the player’s ability to accept his qualifying offer.”

The Warriors would still retain his exclusive NBA negotiating rights, meaning that while he could play for a non-NBA team or club, Kuminga would still not be free to join another franchise in America’s top basketball league. 

Whichever year he would hypothetically return to the NBA in this far-fetched scenario, he would remain in the same restricted free agent situation he is currently in. 

An example of this is former Warriors guard Nico Mannion. The 2020 second-round pick has played for various Italian clubs since the beginning of the 2021-22 season. 

However, the Warriors extended a qualifying offer for each of the last five years. Should Mannion wish to return to the NBA, Golden State would have an opportunity to match any offer he would receive, or facilitate a sign-and-trade.  

That is why Kuminga will either accept the qualifying offer, or accept a contract from either the Warriors or another NBA team.