The Golden State Warriors were always going to find it difficult to balance their winning ambitions while propelling Jonathan Kuminga's trade value. They managed to effectively do it through the first week or two of the season, but they now face a problem that they should have seen coming from the moment they signed the young forward to a two-year, $48 million contract in free agency.
After earning a starting role through the first 12 games of the season, Kuminga is now back in a bench role and playing limited minutes. That's going to significantly harm the sort of value the Warriors could see in a trade return prior to the mid-season deadline, particularly if the 23-year-old and his camp voice thier discontent as was the case after Tuesday's loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.