Jonathan Kuminga was ruled out of the Warriors’ game against the Mavericks Thursday with left knee soreness, the team announced.
He left for the locker room late in the first half after appearing to land awkwardly on his left foot on a drive to the hoop. The No. 7 pick in the 2021 NBA draft fell completely out of Golden State coach Steve Kerr’s rotation amid a trade demand and drawn out messy situation with the organization. That changed with the season-ending injury to Jimmy Butler on Monday, with Kuminga playing for the first time since Dec. 18 on Tuesday against the Raptors and again on Thursday, dropping 10 points in nine minutes before leaving the game.
According to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson, Kuminga’s left knee isn’t serious and is not expected to be a long-term issue. Nevertheless, the tweak comes at an interesting time just two weeks away from the NBA’s Feb. 5 trade deadline.
Following the Warriors’ 123-115 loss to Dallas, Kerr provided an update on Kuminga’s injury during his postgame press conference.
“I just talked to him and he said he’s going to get an MRI tomorrow,” Kerr said via NBC Sports. “It was both the knee and the ankle, we’ll see how bad it is. Such a shame, he was playing great and that definitely hurt as well, not having him available for the second half.”
Kuminga had some fun after he was shaken up, though, kindly asking a young fan to sit in her seat for a moment after coming up limping from the play.
Kuminga needed a quick rest, so he stole this girl's seat 🤣😅 pic.twitter.com/QrsKmUTrF6
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 23, 2026
At 25-20, the Warriors must make a move to compete over the rest of the season in Butler’s absence. Golden State could use Butler’s contract in a trade to acquire a second option for Steph Curry, but general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said he does not “envision” dealing Butler. That doesn’t necessarily rule out a Butler trade, but the Warriors seem much more inclined to deal Kuminga, considering his trade request and role in Kerr’s rotation.
Kuminga has a $22.5 million salary this year and a $24.3 million team option for next season, meaning the Warriors could hold onto him and decline the option in the offseason to end the fifth-year wing’s tenure with the team. They could, however, deal Kuminga for one or multiple rotation players to help fill the void Butler leaves, especially if Dunleavy is willing to attach draft picks alongside Kuminga in a potential deal.
Thursday’s injury shouldn’t impact the current sticky situation as far as we know—we’ll just have to wait and see if the nine minutes he played in Dallas were his last as a Warrior.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jonathan Kuminga Leaves Warriors Game vs. Mavs As Trade Deadline Nears.
