Warriors prepare for Jonathan Kuminga’s arrival after summer contract stalemate

SAN FRANCISCO AP As soon as Jonathan Kuminga shows up to rejoin the Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr plans an immediate conversation with the dynamic forward to make sure they are on the same page as the season begins Kuminga was expected to arrive in the Bay Area on Wednesday and be at Chase Center on Thursday to go through a physical and likely his first practice since signing a two-year contract Tuesday that could be worth up to million The first thing is a great conversation with JK To me at the heart of any good organization way of life is communication Kerr declared Wednesday when the Warriors also signed -year-old center Al Horford We have to have a really good sit down Kerr stated he reached out several times to Kuminga over the summer as he keeps tabs with all his players and announced that he and I have invariably gotten along well One message Kerr plans to make clear The offense will revolve around Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler and Kuminga will have to pick his moments while focusing on the defensive end and running the floor to have a better chance of playing Golden State s first-round draft pick in will turn on Monday Everybody progresses at a different rate Things can click but those are the things I m going to continue to ask of him Kerr mentioned And I have no doubt too there s going to be times this year where we ve got to get him the ball and run the offense through him With Kuminga ultimately signed as well as new additions Horford and Seth Curry general manager Mike Dunleavy has Golden State s roster intact at last a process that took more than three months rather than a matter of days like a normal free agency period A restricted free agent Kuminga received a million qualifying offer on June but weighed other multiyear options Dunleavy hopes Kuminga will be a key contributor and reported for now he wasn t weighing a sign-and-trade scenario As far as the negotiations go it was fair reasonable no issues on my end I think just sometimes these things take time Dunleavy declared But by my count I m all good with it feel good about the deal we ve done and really the deal for JK I think it s good for both sides What that means for the contract structure is we feel like we have a contestant that can be really good and I don t feel like there s a need to make a move Now we ll see how the season unfolds Everybody is eager to move forward with the drawn-out Kuminga situation resolved First of all I m happy for Jonathan It may not be the contract he was hoping for but that s life-changing money and I m really happy for him and his family Kerr revealed The whole idea is to help him get better help him become the athlete that he can become and sign a scant more of those contracts That s what he has to focus on and that s what I have to focus on the getting better part and where he can help us because that s really been the thing that s held him back what we need versus what he wants to do There s no denying that that s been an issue and there s no denying that there s a place for him on this association We don t have a big athletic wing participant like he represents Horford too is ready to get going with his new crew after spending the last four years in Boston and leaving there wasn t an easy decision for me to make Playing for Kerr and alongside Stephen Curry Draymond Green and Butler to chase a championship seemed like a great fit If there was one place that I was going to leave was for this Horford noted So during all the uncertainty in fresh months he focused on his training and making sure his family was ready for the daunting cross-country transition As far as the long wait to sign the five-time All-Star noted It was definitely odd AP NBA https apnews com hub NBA Source