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Rumors: Warriors young forward frustrated, can Mavericks swoop in and trade for him?

Will Miller
Will Miller

The Smoking Cuban

Milwaukee Bucks v Golden State Warriors / Thearon W. Henderson/GettyImages

After sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers in a recent home-and-home series, the Dallas Mavericks have now improved to 21-15 and are slowly creeping back into the realm of having home court advantage in the playoffs.

Dallas' most recent victory over the Trail Blazers on Friday night saw contributions from many different players and it was the best the Mavericks' rotation had looked from top to bottom in quite some time.

Rumors: Warriors young forward frustrated, can Mavericks swoop in and trade for him?

However, Dallas has lacked lengthier wings in their lineup, particularly players who are capable of guarding some of the more larger wings in the league. The Mavericks need size in their lineup next to Dereck Lively II on defense too, especially when you consider his recent ankle issues, but luckily for Dallas the answer to their defensive concerns might be knocking on the door for them in Golden State.

In the full article from Shams Charania, (subscription required) he goes into detail in regard to Kuminga's role with the Warriors and how Steve Kerr is favoring veteran players in the lineup over Kuminga despite strong recent performances. Kuminga is averaging 12.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in only about 22 minutes per game this season, and he has a lot of potential to become one of the better wings in the NBA if he develops his shot more.

Charania said that the Warriors had some tough decisions to make before the February 8 trade deadline and maybe trading Kuminga could be one of them given his recent discontentment with the organization.

If the Mavericks are able to trade for Kuminga then he would fulfill the the mold of player they need in their starting lineup from a defensive perspective and would be an active cutter at the bare minimum, but he also has a lot of offensive potential as a shot creator and initiator at only 21-years-old.

Kuminga definitely would command a decent asking price and the logistics of trading for him are tough given he's on a rookie-scale deal, but he could certainly thrive and grow in Dallas if Nico Harrison could work some magic.

For more updates on Jonathan Kuminga and the rest going on with the Dallas Mavericks this trade season, stay tuned as we'll have you covered.

Will Miller

Will Miller

Will Miller is a senior contributor and is in his second year with The Smoking Cuban. Will has been following the Dallas Mavericks for over a decade and is currently working on getting a Bachelors in Science in Sports Journalism from the University of North Texas, as he is also covering sports for the North Texas TV station. While Will is opening up his coverage to cover other sports for UNT, basketball and the Dallas Mavericks are his true passion and he hopes to continue writing and producing Mavericks related content as his career continues. Will has very solid in-game analysis and knowledge about the intricacies of the game, and has a very broad understanding about the NBA as a whole. Going forward Will is looking to be more expansive in his coverage of the Mavericks beyond writing as well. Outside of writing about the Mavericks, Will enjoys hanging with friends, going to the gym, and watching other sports and live events.