NBA rumors on Josh Giddey, Jonathan Kuminga, and more restricted free agent negotiations

25/07/2025 18:47

There's the latest on the Warriors, Bulls, 76ers, and Nets in free agency.

The NBA offseason has hit a snag, and it's left both the free agent market and trade rumor mill frozen in place. The initial wave of offseason trades and signings has been finished for weeks, but a few big names remain unsigned. The issue: there are no teams with available cap space, and it's put the remaining restricted free agents in a spot with zero leverage.

NBA players reach restricted free agency at the end of their four-year rookie contracts if they still haven't agreed to an extension. Restricted free agency means a player can sign an offer sheet with any team, but their incumbent team has the right to match. With no remaining cap space around the league, teams are trying to squeeze their players into more team-friendly contracts. The four big remaining free agents have refused their offers so far, which has left the NBA offseason stuck in the mud.

Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey, Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas, and Philadelphia 76ers guard Quentin Grimes represent the four best names left on the free agent market, and all of them are restricted. The only bit of leverage these players have is deciding to play on the qualifying offer — a one-year deal that would allow them to become unrestricted free agents a year from now. Taking that deal is a huge risk for players, and immediately puts them behind on career earnings, but it could pay off with a big season.

Here are the latest whispers on where things stand with the restricted free agents right now.

A new team throws its hat in the Jonathan Kuminga derby

The Golden State Warriors' summer has been stuck in neutral as the team has waited out Jonathan Kuminga's restricted free agency. The Warriors are the only team in the NBA to do nothing this summer as Kuminga has looked for a sign-and-trade deal elsewhere that could land him his desired role.

Two teams have been hottest after Kuminga, according to ESPN: the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. The Kings' interest has been reported most of the summer, but Golden State didn't like Sacramento's reported offer of Devin Carter, Dario Saric, and second round picks. Phoenix could likely offer Grayson Allen in a deal, but the base-year compensation rules for Kuminga makes matching salary more difficult. Kuminga's agency have tried to manufacture interest from the Bulls, according to insider Jake Fischer, but their own restricted free agent negotiations with Giddey have stopped any momentum.

The Warriors want a first-round pick back for Kuminga, and the Suns don't even have one they can offer. Golden State is being completely delusional in holding out for a first-rounder. It's understandable that the Warriors want to avoid taking on 'bad' long-term salary in return for the 22-year-old forward, but at a certain point it's in their best interest to get the Kuminga deal finished so they can move on to the rest of their offseason.

The Warriors are rumored to be the front-runner for Al Horford, but the longer he lingers on the free agent market, the more appealing retirement might become for the 39-year-old. Golden State still needs to fill out multiple roster spots for the upcoming season.

A breakup between the Warriors and Kuminga is best for both sides. Kuminga never earned the trust of head coach Steve Kerr during his first four years in the Bay. Kerr's read-and-react system was never a good fit for a player like Kuminga who struggles with processing the floor and making quick decisions. Kuminga's size/explosiveness/strength combination gives him major upside as a scorer, but he likely needs a more uptempo system if he ever wants to reach his potential.

I predicted Kuminga lands with the Kings earlier this month, so I'll stick with it. The Suns make a lot of sense as a potential landing spot, too.

Bulls, Josh Giddey negotiations becoming "strained"

The Bulls want to bring back Josh Giddey after trading Alex Caruso for him a year ago. The issue is that Giddey wants a deal that pays him $30 million per year. The Bulls are reportedly offering a deal around $20 million per year, according to Fischer.

Reports from the Bulls' side have said the talks have been positive. Now Giddey's side is trying to stir the pot by leaking that the negotiations have not been amicable.

Giddey's qualifying offer is for $11 million. Would he really take it? If the Bulls are offering a deal at $20 million per year, Giddey would already be putting himself behind the curve in career earnings, and there's no guarantee another team will offer him the contract he wants a year from now. Yes, there will be more salary cap space available next year around the league, but there have been zero rumors of outside interest in Giddey this summer. He's a particularly hard player to fit into a good team because he has to play on the ball, and his defense and shooting are both shaky. He's also had turnover problems throughout his career.

Giddey is important to Chicago's future, but the reality is he has no leverage in this situation. If the Bulls are offering a deal for $80 million guaranteed over four years, that would give Giddey a chance to get back into unrestricted free agency in his prime (he'll only be 26 four years from now) after years of trying to improve his weaknesses. He's in a position to put up big numbers in an uptempo system built around his strengths in Chicago, but whether or not that can actually lead to wins is another question entirely.

Giddey should try to negotiate a shorter deal with a player option if he really wants to bet on himself — that way he's locking in generational wealth while still gaining the ability to truly test the open market at a young age. A four-year, $90 million offer should be the absolute max for the Bulls. It makes sense that Chicago is a little gun-shy after giving out a $90 million deal to Patrick Williams last summer, which immediately looks like an albatross.

Giddey will be on the Bulls next season, the only question is for how long and how much.

Nets only offering Cam Thomas a two-year deal

Cam Thomas has spent his summer fighting with the media for no good reason while getting frozen out of the market like every other restricted free agent. He's gone from averaging an efficient 24 points per game last season to receiving little outside interest as Brooklyn has reportedly only offered him a deal way below his exceptions.

Fischer reports that the Nets' offer to Thomas is two years, $28 million. That's just a tad above mid-level exception money, and it's the best deal Thomas is going to find on the marketplace this year. It also has to be a disappointment for a player who was expecting a bigger bag after putting up such great scoring numbers this year.

Thomas is probably a better player than Jalen Green, but he didn't have the draft pedigree to get a deal around $30 million per year like Green did as the former No. 2 overall pick. The market just hasn't been kind to volume scorers with questionable awareness and defensive intensity. Thomas should hang around the league for a long-time because of his scoring punch, but the dream of landing a big contract to set him up for life just doesn't seem like it will happen.

All quiet on the Quentin Grimes front

The Mavericks traded Quentin Grimes because they didn't want to pay him this summer. After he exploded in the second half with the 76ers, Grimes still can't find the payday he wants, and he's suddenly in a much deeper Philly backcourt where his role next year is a bit of a question mark.

The Sixers let Guerschon Yabusele walk to the Knicks in free agency in part so they could bring back Grimes. There's a salary slot for Grimes at just over the mid-level exception. This should be an easy deal, but Grimes hasn't taken it yet.

Grimes reportedly wants $25 million per year. Like all of the restricted free agents this year, he's not going to find it.

The RFA market is not friendly to players. Will that inspire the next year's group of potential RFA candidates to agree to early extensions at a lower number? The added cap space around the league next year will be enticing, but there's only so much money to go around. Right now, some talented young players are getting squeezed, and there's nothing they can do about it other than making an extremely risky bet on themselves.