Butler Weighs In as Kuminga Holdout Threatens Warriors’ Title Window
Golden State Warriors star Jimmy Butler expressed confidence Monday that the franchise and restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga would eventually reach an agreement, drawing from his own experience navigating a contract standoff.
“Like, I tell everybody who asks me, not even from the media, just random people, my friends, I’m not in on it, you know? I hope it gets resolved,” Butler told reporters during media day. “I know what that is like. I’ve been in this league going on 15 years now, and it will get handled. And I know that both sides will be happy in the end. At the end of the day, we all love JK. We all love JK to be happy. We all love this organization to be happy. So we will let JK and this organization figure it out.”
Butler’s comments come as he draws on his own experience last season, when his contract impasse with the Miami Heat ultimately led to his trade to Golden State. He encouraged patience, saying both the player and the team want the same outcome: a resolution that benefits everyone.
Kuminga Holds Out, Leveraging Qualifying Offer
Kuminga, 22, continues to resist the Warriors’ three outstanding contract proposals. According to ESPN insiders Shams Charania and Anthony Slater, Golden State’s most lucrative offers include a two-year, $45 million deal and a three-year, $75.2 million deal, both with team options for the final season. The only offer without a team option is a three-year, $54 million deal.
The forward has threatened to accept the $7.9 million qualifying offer, which expires Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. ET. Taking the QO would make him an unrestricted free agent next offseason and grant him control over any midseason trade due to the offer’s no-trade clause.
Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner, told ESPN’s Hoop Collective podcast that the player is leaning toward the QO unless the Warriors convert the team option into a player option. “If he’s treated fairly — and in our mind that’s flipping [the] team option to [a] player option — he’s back, and then we don’t have to talk about the [qualifying offer],” Turner said. “But the QO is real. It’s something that JK wants to take. It does have upside. You’re not getting traded. You’re going to have unrestricted free agency.”
Turner added that giving Kuminga a player option would ensure the forward returns fully engaged.
“If the Warriors want to win now, and they want a player who’s happy and treated fairly, who’s a big part of this team moving forward, you give him the player option,” Turner said. “You might lose a little trade value by giving that up. But if it’s about the here and now, you give him that. You don’t get a perfect deal, but you get a pretty good deal, and he feels respected. Then everyone can move on and focus on winning, helping Steph [Curry].”
Steph Curry Issues Stern Warning
As Kuminga’s standoff threatens to disrupt one of Stephen Curry’s remaining championship windows, the Warriors’ 37-year-old star issued a clear expectation for the young forward.
“Negotiations are hard,” Curry told reporters during media day. “We all know that the idea of everybody’s situation is a little different. Everybody comes up with whatever narrative they want to. It’s how business kind of goes. Some things are pretty straightforward. Some things aren’t.
“This is definitely in the hard conversation category, but when he comes and he’s here, he should be a professional and do exactly what he expects to do, and take advantage of his opportunities to help us win everybody who’s in the locker room. That’s what you’re committed to doing. So I don’t have any concerns that he’ll approach it that way, and that’s what we expect.”
Curry’s remarks underscore the Warriors’ emphasis on professionalism and accountability, even as the contract impasse lingers and training camp approaches. The Warriors’ championship window hangs in the balance as the team awaits Kuminga’s decision, with Butler’s steady voice underscoring the importance of keeping both player and franchise aligned.
Giants' kicker Younghoe Koo opens up about his fresh start in New York, finding his rhythm again in a place that feels like home
Younghoe Koo is a New Jersey native that is now playing for the Giants.
The New York Giants‘ new kicker is no stranger to the Big Apple.
Veteran Younghoe Koo, who signed with the Giants practice squad to potentially replace injured kicker Graham Gano, opened up Thursday about his experience growing up in Northern New Jersey — not far from where the Giants will host the Los Angeles Chargers in East Rutherford on Sunday.
Koo, a 2020 Pro Bowler who spent the past seven seasons kicking for the Atlanta Falcons, was released Sept. 19 by the Falcons. He signed with the Giants on Tuesday.
Koo has not missed a kick at MetLife Stadium in his pro career. He went 3 for 3, including two fields and the game-winner for the Falcons on the last play of their 17-14 victory over the Giants on Sept. 26, 2021 — the only time he has played near his childhood home as a pro.
Kicking For Giants ‘More Special’ For Younghoe Koo
Koo was born in Seoul, South Korea and has ties to Greater Atlanta while kicking at Georgia Southern. But he also kicked for Ridgewood High School in the affluent Bergen County suburb of New York, since his family moved from Seoul to Ridgewood when he was a youngster.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity,” Koo said Thursday. “But it is definitely a little more special that I grew up in Ridgewood. Moving to Ridgewood from Korea when I was in middle school and then making friends here and all that stuff, and being raised in Ridgewood, it is definitely special, for sure.”
Ridgewood High School sits just 13 miles north of MetLife Stadium, though Koo said he was not a sports fan and did not root for the Giants — or any team — while he was living in New Jersey while growing up.
Giants special teams coach Michael Ghobrial shared what made Koo alluring for the Giants to sign.
“He’s a veteran kicker that’s kicked in the league for a long time, kicked at a Pro Bowl level,” Ghobrial said. “You can tell, the little bit I’ve gotten to know him, there is an authentic confidence that you see with him, that the situation is not too big for him and you see that amount to success.
“To me, it’s a no-brainer to me why he’s had so many game-winning kicks. There’s a level of confidence he goes out there knowing he can execute at a high level.”
Giants Holding Kicking Competition
Koo wasn’t the only kicker added to New York’s practice squad this week, since the Giants also signed Jude McAtamney, who kicked in Gano’s absence during his rookie year, 2024.
McAtamney does not have the track record of Koo, who has made 85.8 percent of field goals and 96.2 percent of extra points in his 93-game NFL career.
But Koo and McAtamney are in a competition to fill in for Gano, who was injured pregame ahead of the Giants’ home game against the Kansas City Chiefs and will not play against the Chargers on Sunday.
Yet, the idea of a competition is concerning according to Koo.
“It’s the first time that I’m in competition, and it’s not the last time I’ll be in competition,” Koo said. “That’s part of the job. I’m definitely going to embrace it.”
