ESPN insider sees ‘window’ for Warriors to extend Moody

Shams Charania reported that he expects Jonathan Kuminga to ‘bet on himself’ and enter restricted free agency after this season.

Shams Charania is ESPN’s newest Scoopmaster General, and this weekend, he shared some intel about the Golden State Warriors’ pending extension talks with Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody.

Charania reported on NBA Today that Kuminga and the Warriors are “still far apart” in their talks on a rookie extension, which has to be done by Monday, October 21.

“I think there’s a real belief that this could play out into the season and intro restricted free agency,” Charania said on Friday. “And really a guy in Jonathan Kuminga that wants to bet on himself and try to be as close to a max contract type of player out there.’

He’s moved on to ESPN, but Charania’s knack for poetic language remains. It’s consistent with what we’ve been hearing all summer that the Warriors aren’t ready to offer Kuminga a contract near the rookie max, nor is Kuminga willing to accept an extension that’s well below said max.

But Charania’s reporting on Moody matches what Anthony Slater suggested earlier in the week: That there was a “window” available for the Warriors to reach a deal with Moody. Slater reported that the two sides were talking about a deal near the value of the midlevel exception, while Charania simply said that the Warriors think Moody can earn a rotation role, and thus want to extend him.

Viewers also got look at Charania’s new background for ESPN. On display, we can see his degree from Loyola University and a number of books. Most prominent is Kobe Bryant’s “Mamba Mentality: How I Play.” Clearly, Charania has a mamba mentality towards getting scoops and texting NBA executives and player agents. There’s “Dwyane,” Dwyane Wade’s “photographic memoir” of his NBA career, because Shams doesn’t have time to read words, just look at pictures.

He also has a book by Justin Timberlake called, “Hindsight & All the Things I Can’t See in Front of Me,” which shows viewers that Charania also has the scoop on the creative process behind “Dick In A Box.” We’re not positive, but it appears that the final book on display is “Dynasties,” by Oakland’s own Marcus Thompson III, which simply shows that Shams has good taste.

We won’t know for sure until Monday if the Warriors can reach a deal, but if one happens, it looks like it would be with Moody. And if Shams announces it, we like to think he’ll yell, “Kobe!” before tweeting out the news.