The Zach Lowe Show – Episode Summary

Episode: The Jonathan Kuminga Stalemate Ends, and Awards Picks With Kirk Goldsberry. Plus, a Mets Corner Postmortem With Sean Fennessey.
Date: October 1, 2025
Guests: Kirk Goldsberry, Sean Fennessey
Host: Zach Lowe

Episode Overview

This episode marks Zach Lowe’s debut at The Ringer, with an in-depth look at NBA news—including the resolution of the Jonathan Kuminga/Warriors contract standoff, a break down of potential Kumingatrades, team previews, and award predictions with Kirk Goldsberry. The show closes with a cathartic, deeply-revealing Mets Corner postmortem with Sean Fennessey.

1. Jonathan Kuminga’s Contract Resolution and What It Means For The Warriors

Main theme: The saga around Kuminga’s future finally (sort of) ends, but big questions remain.

Discussion Highlights:

• Kuminga Re-Signs: Kuminga accepts a 2-year, $48 million deal with the Warriors (team option for Year 2).
  • “The headliner, our long national nightmare of podcast tours…Jonathan Kuminga signs a two year, $48 million deal with the Golden State Warriors, which is really a one plus one year, two is a team option.” — Zach Lowe [03:04]
• Reaction:
  • Kirk Goldsberry calls the process a “relief,” criticizing the spectacle:
    “Relief…Restricted free agency has never been more boring but also gotten more attention than it had this year.” [04:00]
  • Zach Lowe agrees and outlines why the qualifying offer wasn’t attractive for either side and how it positions the Warriors for a potential trade.
• Trade Outlook: Both anticipate Kuminga will be traded after January 15 (trade eligibility date).
  • Zach outlines three likely scenarios:
    1. Kuminga + picks for a “real guy” (unlikely due to salary/cap obstacles and Kuminga’s moderate value).
    2. Kuminga for future assets that might help enable a bigger move.
    3. Kuminga as an expiring contract for “salary dumps.” “I don’t know if you see a good Jonathan Kuminga trade because I don’t right now.” — Zach Lowe [08:51]
  • Kirk emphasizes the challenge: “Steve Kerr doesn’t like playing Jonathan Kuminga that much…He has to be part of the first three months of the season. He has to get his minutes. But it’s something that Steve Kerr has been really reticent to do.” [09:12]
  • They review poor fits—Phoenix, Sacramento, Miami, etc.—and note that Warriors might just need to wait for an unexpectedly appealing trade partner.
  • Potential “keep him and make it work” scenario discussed: “Is there a world where these strange bedfellows make it work?...For me, that seems like the best solution here, Zach, is Jonathan Kaminga and Steve Kerr learn to love each other.” — Kirk [18:01]
• Warriors Season Outlook: Debate on whether the Warriors’ championship window is still open, given their advanced age and an extremely deep Western Conference.
  • Zach: “The bar in the west is so high…I just can’t see them winning three playoff series. I would love to be proven wrong.” [19:26]
  • Kirk: “Kaminga actually helps them…Is there a world where these strange bedfellows make it work?” [13:45]

Notable Quotes & Moments:

• “Steve Kerr’s already shown you he doesn’t really care about anything else and he’s not going to give Kuminga minutes to make the front office’s job easier if he doesn’t think Jonathan Kuminga has earned those minutes...” — Zach [10:48]

2. NBA News & Noteworthy Media Day Comments

Quick-hitting reactions to recent developments:
(Times refer to the start of the new segment)

a. Sixers/Quentin Grimes Signing [02:57]

• Grimes signs qualifying offer, will be unrestricted after next year.
• Both think the Sixers simply aren’t invested in retaining him.

b. De’Aaron Fox Hamstring Injury [28:19]

• Early concern for the Spurs with Fox missing possible time, especially with little veteran guard depth.
• Kirk: “It’s dicey in a Western Conference where there is just unforgiving guards every night.” [28:58]

c. Kevin Durant Indicates Re-signing with Rockets [30:24]

• KD will re-sign with Houston: “He’s legitimately happy to be back here in Texas and I think he has a good relationship with Ime Udoka.” — Kirk [31:02]

d. Giannis' Commitment Wavering (again) [31:26]

• Giannis was honest about thinking of his future:
  “I want to contend for championships…I’m going to go places where I can do that.” — paraphrased by Zach [32:54]
• Kirk: “He said he’s mentally prepared to be traded…superstars in 2025 have to expect to play for more than one team.” [33:16]

e. Jokic Stays Loyal, Clippers’ Weirdness, and Bradley Beal's “Defensive Past” [34:32–38:46]

• Jokic: “I want to be a Nugget for life.”
• Clippers media day was “as weird as always;” Ty Lue starts Beal, but “wants to rediscover his time as a really good defender,” which Kirk doubts ever existed.
  • “I went back and looked at all the fancy fanciest stats I could and I don’t know if that time ever existed... Wizards fans, you can let us know in the comments if you remember Bradley Beal being a lockdown defender.” — Kirk [36:37]

f. Aging West Teams and Playoff Odds [40:02]

• Warriors and Clippers grouped as too old but dangerous.
• OKC and Denver are favorites; Zach notes the difficulty of repeating championships.

3. Award Picks & Predictions

A. NBA MVP (Most Valuable Player) [41:29]

• Favorites:

  • Both Zach and Kirk pick Nikola Jokic.
    • “I’m going back to the era of Nikola Jokic…he will have the best statistical case by the end of this season.” — Kirk [41:44]
  • SGA (last year’s MVP), Luka, and Giannis round out the “big four” (plus Wembanyama nipping at their heels).

• Top Challenger Outside the Four:

  • Kirk: Victor Wembanyama (“the right answer,” +1200 odds), with a dark horse nod to Jalen Brunson if the Knicks are a 1-seed [45:54].
  • Zach: Anthony Edwards (“could average 30 a game and the Wolves might be good enough”) [47:01].

• Debates:

  • Why SGA could be overlooked by voters due to style and “unexciting” perception despite his production [52:10].
  • Kirk: “They’re gonna enjoy what the Spurs enjoyed for a while, which was, hey, you’re great but you’re boring.” [52:10]

B. NBA Coach of the Year [53:56]

• Both ultimately land on Quinn Snyder, Atlanta Hawks.
  • “I just feel like…Quinn finally has a team he’s going to really love to coach…stars are aligning there.” — Kirk [54:06]
  • Zach previously considered Eric Spoelstra, but says Coach of the Year typically goes to a “surprise” high-seed in the East. Both mention Jamahl Mosley (Orlando) as another likely finalist.
  • Kirk: “Pretty confident this award comes out of the east because there will be a three or four seed, maybe even one or two seed, that whoa, I didn’t see this coming.” [58:15]

4. Macro Trend: Is Free Agency Dead? [62:40]

• Kirk: “Is free agency kind of dead?…the second apron has changed the math.”
• Zach: “It’s more trades now than free agency…what we’re waiting on is a big team in a glamour market to get cap space, but the rules have changed things…” [63:38]
• Kirk likens the “apron” to the introduction of the three-point line—a seismic change in team-building/roster strategy.
• They agree: player movement happens now via preemptive extensions (plus eventual trades) rather than dramatic free-agent shifts.

5. Mets Corner: Season Postmortem With Sean Fennessey [68:23]

Tone: Candid, cathartic, alternately funny and almost tragicomic—a support group for long-suffering Mets fans.

Key Themes

• Mets’ 2025 season ends in disappointment, missing the playoffs after another collapse.
  • Sean: "I will make the case that this is worse than 2007, what we just witnessed, because it took so goddamn long. So I don't feel good.” [69:25]
• Both dissect missed opportunities, poor defense, “run prevention” failings, and questions about player development and the franchise’s direction.
• “The Mets are a disease, and we are looking for the cure. We're looking, Zach, and we cannot find the cure.” — Sean [72:06]
• In-depth debate over the future of Pete Alonso (“I love everything about him...I like the idea of him staying so the Mets home run record becomes a real home run record…” — Zach [82:24]), Juan Soto, and various young players.
• Questions of team construction: “How much can you change the way this team prevents runs?” [85:56]
• A defense of Mets fandom as an identity:
  • “I've had so much fun. I missed caring about a team like this so much. … Even the pain is restorative. The pain of being a sports fan is almost perversely fun because that's what you're gonna remember when they win.” — Zach [96:38]
• Sean: “There's something cosmic going against me right now and going against us, who root for both of those teams. And the jets thing is really, I agree with what you said about the Mets, which is that they're going to win in the next 10 years. … The jets are like, they are. They are the worst franchise in North American sports. Literally.” [99:00]
• Bittersweet closing: fans will stick together, hope will persist, and pain is part of the bargain.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “Restricted free agency has never been more boring but also gotten more attention than it had this year.” – Kirk Goldsberry [04:00]
• “Steve Kerr doesn’t like playing Jonathan Kuminga...they need to play him to audition him for said trade.” – Kirk Goldsberry [09:00]
• “I just can’t see them winning three playoff series. I would love to be proven wrong.” – Zach Lowe [19:26]
• “Hope is the perfect word because I can imagine a world…where they do…but that’s not the world I live in.” – Kirk Goldsberry (on the Sixers) [22:36]
• “If you look at this summer in review…what are the biggest stories? Well, we have a cap circumvention story and we have two wave and stretches that we've never seen before...” – Kurt Goldsberry [64:25]
• “I love the Mets…Even the pain, the pain is restorative. The pain of being a sports fan is almost perversely fun because it's what you're going to remember when they win.” – Zach Lowe [96:38]
• “I am still very much committed to this Mets crew … I am not mad at. I love Pete Alonso. I love Francisco Lindor. I love rooting for them. I love being a Mets fan. I do feel really ground down right now, though, man. Really ground down.” – Sean Fennessey [96:38]

Segment Timestamps

• [02:47] – Start of NBA News, Kuminga discussion
• [11:34] – Exploring possible Kuminga trades/team fits
• [13:40] – Value of keeping Kuminga, Warriors’ playoff potential
• [28:19] – De’Aaron Fox injury, media day news
• [41:29] – MVP predictions and discussion
• [53:56] – Coach of the Year predictions
• [62:40] – Is NBA Free Agency Dead?
• [68:23] – Mets Corner: Mets postmortem with Sean Fennessey

Conclusion

A packed season-launcher episode: Zach and Kirk dig deeply into contract drama, evolving league economics, and the vexing task of building a contender in the modern NBA. Award picks underline how hard it will be to dethrone entrenched stars and coaches. Mets Corner provides the release valve—an honest, occasionally hilarious therapy session for battered fans everywhere.

Theme: In both leagues, uncertainty reigns and history weighs heavy—making hope, chemistry, and adaptation the most precious commodities of all.