Draymond Green on Jonath

SAN FRANCISCO – In the shadows Golden State Warriors’ 10th win in 14 games following their 126-113 win over the New York Knicks Jonathan Cumminga the situation. She sat through the questions posed to Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, sat through the pregame question to Steve Kerr and hung around Golden State with all the most credible reporters who publicly release their source reports.

But amid another whirlwind of trade rumors and internal drama, with the 23-year-old forward becoming trade-eligible this week, the Warriors remain confident it won’t be a distraction.

“It’s not a nuisance at all,” Curry said, in line with Kerr and Butler they said in their own comments.

“It’s a very unique situation, but our job is to just keep playing, keep winning. It’s going to work itself out. One way or another.”

And after a game where the Warriors overcame a 17-point deficit in the first quarter, it sure feels that way. That didn’t stop Curry from scoring 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting. That didn’t stop Butler from posting a career-high 32 points and 8 rebounds. For now, everything indicates that Kuminga’s saga has been overshadowed by what is happening on the field.

And for Draymond Greenwho supported Kuminga behind the scenes, gave a long and honest answer as to why he believed the situation would not be a distraction, despite the growing outside noise.

“Because he’s not a distraction. How he deals with it is everything. He deals with it in a certain way. He becomes a distraction. But he doesn’t have to be. And the way he’s handled himself, the way he’s handled things that don’t go his way, says a lot about his character. So everybody here can safely say it’s not going to be a distraction, not a distraction.”

Draymond Green on why the Jonathan Cumings situation won’t be a distraction:

“Because he’s not a nuisance… Everyone here can say with certainty that it won’t be a nuisance because he’s not a nuisance.”

He spoke of his desire to see Kuminga reach his full potential. pic.twitter.com/GPNMKST2T17

— Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) January 16, 2026

With Cumming’s camp signals deep unhappiness as the cookie crumbled in Golden State, citing a lack of opportunities to prove he’s capable of the level he thinks he can reach, his future remains murky with no clear path in sight. And not just his future with the Warriors, but his future as a potential star in the NBA.

With Kuminga looking to climb elsewhere, Green was asked if he wanted a guy he considered close to.

“I want to see him reach his full potential wherever he is in this league,” Green said. “It’s not always the way we imagine it. I’ve been so lucky and lucky to play in one place for 14 years. But how rare is that?”

“For a guy drafted seventh overall, you expect everything to go the way you want it to go, the way you think it’s supposed to go. And sometimes it just doesn’t go that way. But that doesn’t make him any worse of a player. That doesn’t make this any worse of an organization. Sometimes things just don’t work out.”

Green reaffirmed Cumming’s character again and again in his three-minute audio recording of the young striker’s future. Butler’s feeling also reaffirmeddescribing Kuminga as his boyfriend and the love the locker room has for him.

After all, Kuminga’s tensions are not about his teammates. In many ways, it’s not even related to a personal relationship with Steve Kerr. From this point on, both claimed it was strictly based on disagreements about matters on the field. But the signs point to the end of the weak saga. For Green, his belief in Cummings remains unwavering.

“I have no doubt in my mind that no matter what happens to him, whether he’s here or anywhere else, he’s going to make it in the end because he’s working his tail off,” Green said. “He’s a great person, a great teammate. And things work out for those guys.”