Jonathan Kuminga's free agency has been a full-on sweepstakes for weeks, with the Lakers, Bulls, Blazers and Timberwolves all circling. On August 26, it finally ended, and not the way most people expected.
Jonathan Kuminga is reportedly down to the Lakers or Timberwolves, per @JakeLFischer The Decision 🍿 (h/t @RealGM )
That was the temperature check hours before things moved. Jake Fischer was already reporting the Bulls were quietly in the mix too, even if New Orleans had long been seen as the real Bennedict Mathurin sweepstakes team and Chicago wasn't figuring into that. Kuminga's market, in other words, was bigger and messier than the Lakers-or-Wolves framing suggested.
But, yeah, NOLA has been the Bennedict Mathurin team since before February’s trade deadline. Said yesterday on @BleacherReport Chicago wasn’t factoring into his free agency. But I believe the Bulls are involved in Jonathan Kuminga’s process to a real degree, in addition to Lakers, Wolves.
Then Shams Charania dropped the news: Kuminga is signing a two-year, $13 million deal with Minnesota, plus a player option, per his agent Aaron Turner. He'll start alongside Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert on a Western Conference contender — a lineup that reads like a fast-forward button on whatever Minnesota's ceiling is this year.
BREAKING: Jonathan Kuminga has agreed to a two-year, $13 million deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, plus a player option, agent Aaron Turner tells ESPN. Kuminga will be a starter alongside Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert on the West contender.
The real story is what Kuminga turned down to get there. According to Charania, he walked away from a similar starting role and $12 million-plus annually over 3 years in Los Angeles for a shorter deal in Minnesota, prioritizing control over his own future over guaranteed money. That's a notable bet on himself for a 23-year-old who's already been traded once and non-tendered once in the last calendar year.
Kuminga chose the Timberwolves over offers from the Lakers, Bulls and Trail Blazers -- bypassing a similar starting role and $12M-plus annually over three years in L.A. to land in Minnesota for a shorter-term deal and an ability to have more control of his future, sources said.
It's been a wild road to this point. Golden State drafted Kuminga 7th overall in 2021 and spent years trying to figure out his fit before dealing him and Buddy Hield to Atlanta for Kristaps Porzingis in February. The Hawks then declined his $24.3 million team option in June, making him a free agent again just months after the trade — the kind of whiplash that usually tanks a guy's market instead of turning him into the centerpiece of a bidding war.
Minnesota didn't win this by outbidding anyone — they couldn't. Charania reported the Wolves spent the last month recruiting Kuminga hard, leaning on their taxpayer mid-level exception and a real on-court role, with Edwards personally involved and president Tim Connelly flying to Miami for a 4-hour meeting earlier this month. Coach Chris Finch was reportedly in Kuminga's ear too. That's the kind of full-court press that usually loses to a bigger check, and this time it didn't.
There's still a logistics problem to solve. Bobby Marks flagged that Minnesota needs to shed money to fit Kuminga's $6.1 million cap hit below the second apron, and the deadline to stretch a player's salary is this Saturday — meaning a roster casualty is coming fast, likely as a corresponding move to clear the number.
Minnesota will need to make a roster move to fit the Kuminga $6.1M salary below the second apron. The deadline to stretch a player is Saturday.
If it works, Minnesota just added a former top-10 pick with real two-way upside to a core that already includes Edwards and Gobert, on a team-friendly, short-term deal that lets both sides bail if it doesn't click. For a Wolves team trying to close the gap on the West's top tier, that's exactly the kind of swing worth taking.