Insider Links Eastern Conference Team to Jonathan Kuminga

The impasse between the Golden State Warriors and restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga continues as we are just a couple of weeks out from training camp. And while the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns had been linked to interest in a sign-and-trade for Kuminga earlier this summer, insider Jake Fischer (h/t Bleacher Report) has now dropped a new team that is sniffing around the former No. 7 overall draft pick.

Fischer says the Chicago Bulls have interest in Kuminga, though he admits that a sign-and-trade "doesn't seem very plausible" since "the Bulls simply don't have the outgoing trade pieces that the Warriors would be seeking in exchange for their 22-year-old."

However, he notes that Chicago is still in the running as a potential future landing spot, given that Kuminga is likely to simply accept the $7.9 million qualifying offer from the Warriors, which would allow him to become an unrestricted free agent after the season. The Bulls would be a serious pursuer at that point.

Fischer adds that any other solution to the Kuminga dilemma with the Dubs is unlikely. "There has been little substantive dialogue between the two sides since it emerged weeks ago that the Warriors were pushing a two-year, $45 million deal structure in which Golden State holds a team option for Year 2 and strips Kuminga of the right to grant consent on trades in Year 1."

With an Oct. 1 deadline for Kuminga to accept his QO, Fischer says "there is a sense" that something could finally happen during the coming week.

Kuminga, 22, has not been happy with his usage under head coach Steve Kerr, and it makes sense that he'll need a fresh start elsewhere, sooner or later, to really get his career to the next level.