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

“The first thing is a great conversation with JK. To me at the heart of any good team culture is communication,” Kerr said Wednesday, when the Warriors also signed 39-year-old center Al Horford. "We have to have a really good sit down."

Kerr said he reached out several times to Kuminga over the summer, as he keeps tabs with all his players, and said that “he and I have always 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 2021 will turn 23 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 said. “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 finally 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 $7.9 million qualifying offer on June 29 but weighed other multiyear options. Dunleavy hopes Kuminga will be a key contributor and said 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 said. “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 player 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 said.

“The whole idea is to help him get better, help him become the player that he can become and sign a few 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 team. We don’t have a big athletic wing player like he represents.”

Horford, too, is ready to get going with his new team 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 said.

So, during all the uncertainty in recent 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 said: “It was definitely odd.”

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