Despite a deep roster and decent star power, the Golden State Warriors have been floundering lately. They have lost four of their last five games, and with a 10-10 record, there is now quite a bit of concern in the air across the San Francisco Bay Area.
The first thing they need to get past this rough patch is good health. Stephen Curry will be out for about a week due to a quad contusion, center Al Horford is sidelined with sciatica and forward Jonathan Kuminga is dealing with a knee ailment.
But the Warriors may also need more youth. Kuminga definitely provides them with exactly that, but despite agreeing to a two-year, $48.5 million contract extension just prior to this season, he still seems the odd man out, especially after coach Steve Kerr benched him earlier this month.
Kuminga’s name has come up in trade rumors, and NBA insider Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported that the Indiana Pacers could be interested in Kuminga. Siegel speculated that two-way wing Bennedict Mathurin could be re-routed to Golden State as part of a hypothetical trade for Kuminga.
“Staying in the Eastern Conference, one team that has quietly been scouting Kuminga dating back to the start of the 2024-25 season and has continued into this year is the Indiana Pacers,” Siegel wrote. “Could there be a deal to be had between Indiana and Golden State, one that possibly involved Bennedict Mathurin?
“As he prepares to hit restricted free agency next summer, Mathurin is the exact type of athletic wing scorer the Warriors would want next to Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green.”
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Mathurin, who is in his fourth season out of the University of Arizona, has been a vital part of the Pacers’ success in recent seasons. Last season, he averaged 16.1 points a game as they rode their magic carpet all the way to Game 7 of the NBA Finals before Tyrese Haliburton’s torn Achilles ended their championship hopes.
With Haliburton out for the duration, the Pacers have the NBA’s worst record at 2-16, and while Mathurin has been playing well (he’s averaging 23 points per game so far this season), some retooling may be in order for them.
At 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, Mathurin has plenty of athleticism, which makes it seem as if he fits the Warriors’ profile for speedy players who can defend, score and play team basketball. He isn’t a deadly 3-point shooter, but with a lifetime accuracy of 34.5% from that distance, he isn’t a slouch in that area either.
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Curry will turn 38 years of age in March, and while he’s still playing at his usual otherworldly level, Golden State wants to maximize him and get one more NBA championship out of him. It remains to be seen whether the best way to do so is to trade Kuminga for someone such as Mathurin or keep Kuminga and get the msot out of him.
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