NBA training camps around the league will open for most teams in two weeks.
For a lot of teams, that means players have begun arriving in home markets to work out together and get some work in at the team facilities in preparation for training camp. It means everyone is settling in for the long haul of the season.
Even most two-way and exhibit 10 contracts are finalized and done. Teams are not looking to add new players to the mix. But a few minor deals may trickle in.
Unless you are the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors have been trapped all summer. They have not made any moves officially this offseason because they are stuck in the limbo of Jonathan Kuminga's restricted free agency.
He has yet to sign a new contract with the team or accept the qualifying offer to enter unrestricted free agency next summer. There is a severe stalemate with Kuminga. He wants more money than the Warriors are willing to offer, but the Warriors do not want to lose Kuminga for nothing and feel the need to retain him as a future asset.
It has paralyzed their offseason and summer. All for a player who averaged 15.3 points per game and shot 45.4 percent from the floor and 30.4 percent from three.
He entered the draft as a potential star. Magic fans were probably gleefully waiting for him to fall to them with the eighth pick so they could add him to the surprise fall of Jalen Suggs to the fifth pick.
That almost was the case. But the Warriors find themselves in their predicament because of that fateful draft decision.
Golden State took Kuminga with the seventh pick, leaving Wagner to fall to the Magic with the eighth pick (and several more teams eager to select Wagner behind them).
Instead of taking a player that was almost universally believed to be a perfect fit for Golden State and its "two timelines" plan, someone who could complement and work alongside their veteran core, they swung for the fences with a young player who was an imperfect fit as a supporting player.
It is one of the biggest sliding doors of the last decade. And the Warriors were indeed close to going the other way and taking Wagner. Instead, the Magic got the first of their two young potential All-Stars, which has them entering contender status in the league for the first time in more than a decade.
How close Franz came to being a Warrior
Really since Jonathan Kuminga was drafted, he has been a flash point for the Golden State Warriors.
He was solid in his rookie season, playing a role in the Warriors' 2022 championship run. He averaged 5.2 points per game in that run and gained a reputation as a potentially tough defender.
But Golden State drafted him to be a leading wing. The Warriors hoped to hand the baton off from Stephen Curry to Jonathan Kuminga, along with second overall pick James Wiseman and Jordan Poole.
That plan fell apart quickly. Kuminga is the only player left from that plan. The only player they have not been able to quit.
Ultimately, all of the Warriors' decision-makers own the Kuminga choice in the 2021 NBA Draft. But, as Anthony Slater and Shams Charania reported for ESPN, it was owner Joe Lacob who pushed hard to draft Kuminga despite the concerns about his poor shooting and fit on an already established team.
As they report further, there were members of the front office and coaching staff who preferred Wagner.
Even though Kuminga has turned into a fine player and may have been limited in his personal development by his role on a veteran team, the Warriors still feel a need to fill in the roster with other starring players. You do not acquire Jimmy Butler if you believe Jonathan Kuminga can be a leading player on your team.
The division in the Warriors' front office around Kuminga has continued. But Lacob remains a supporter and wants to retain him. He signs the checks.
Wagner has turned into an All-Star
The Golden State Warriors' loss has been the Orlando Magic's gain.
While Jonathan Kuminga has struggled to meet his expectations and find a consistent role with the Warriors, Franz Wagner has turned into everything the Magic could have dreamed of and more.
When Orlando drafted Wagner, the scouting report suggested he was a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. He would be someone who could fit in gaps and support an already established team as a two-way player.
He indeed seemed a perfect fit for the Warriors at the time. He did not seem like the kind of foundation player that a team like the Magic needed at the beginning of their rebuild.
But Wagner has quickly established himself as one of the best young players in the league. He is a foundational player for the Magic as they aim to contend in the Eastern Conference, beginning a max contract extension this season.
Wagner averaged 24.2 points per game and 25.8 in the Playoffs. He was named to the All-Star Five in leading Germany to a EuroBasket title, his second international gold medal.
Big things are expected of Franz Wagner this season, especially with the Magic adding Desmond Bane in the offseason. Wagner's development into an All-Star-level player is central to the Magic's championship hopes.
It is incredible to think that he was not the obvious pick during his draft. It is incredible to think about a team like the Warriors passing on such an obvious fit for them and their offense.
But that is how the draft goes. The Warriors missed on that pick and are caught in limbo.
Meanwhile the Magic hit on that pick and are now rocketing up the standings.