NBA trade proposal sends Jonathan Kuminga to Nets, Michael Porter Jr. to Warriors

NBA trade season always brings out imagination. Sometimes it also brings out proposals that feel more like a cap-management exam than an actual negotiation.

This one leans heavily in that direction.

NBA writer Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report recently floated a purely hypothetical trade scenario built around the idea that the Warriors could explore moving Jonathan Kuminga once he becomes trade-eligible after January 14.

The concept also imagines Golden State making a major offensive pivot.

Here’s how Buckley mapped it out.

The hypothetical proposal

Warriors receive

• Michael Porter Jr.
• Haywood Highsmith

Nets receive

• Jonathan Kuminga
• Moses Moody
• Buddy Hield
• 2028 first-round pick (top-five protected)
• 2030 first-round pick swap (positions 21–30 protected)

Why it’s being discussed

The underlying assumption is simple. Golden State is widely expected around the league to at least listen on Kuminga once the calendar allows, and Brooklyn continues to operate in asset-accumulation mode.

In this scenario, the Warriors swap future flexibility and young depth for a proven, high-volume scorer in Porter, while the Nets collect picks and younger pieces to reset their timeline.

Money and numbers

Porter is making $38.3 million this season and has been highly productive, averaging 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists while shooting 49.1 percent from the field and 40.1 percent from three.

Kuminga is earning $22.5 million and averaging 11.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.6 assists.

He signed a two-year, $48.5 million deal last offseason, with a team option in year two that was structured to allow Golden State or another team to tear it up and rework his contract next summer.

Reality check

This is where theory and practice usually part ways.

Deals that involve multiple rotation players, two first-round assets, a pick swap, and significant salary matching almost never come together as designed.

Front offices may brainstorm along these lines, but the final version is almost always slimmer, quieter, and far less symmetrical.

As a thought experiment, it’s interesting. As a roadmap, it’s exactly that: hypothetical.

Still, with Kuminga’s trade window approaching, ideas like this tend to surface for a reason.