Minnesota Timberwolves Trade Kuminga for $13 Million, Aiming for Western Conference Leader
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This offseason, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been assembling a new roster as they look to be one of the upper-echelon teams in the Western Conference. Earlier this summer, they traded for former Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball, and just recently, they signed former Atlanta Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga.
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Bleacher ReportBall was the centerpiece of a busy offseason for the Timberwolves, as they also signed Ayo Dosunmu to a contract extension and signed forward Jonathan Kuminga in free agency this week.
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Kuminga signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday for two years, $13 million with a player option. He had been after a player option for years going back to his highly publicized contract standoff with Golden State. The Warriors reportedly offered Kuminga has much as $48 million guaranteed at one point, but he wanted more control over his future with the belief that his scoring would get him paid in free agency. Turning down that deal feels like an obvious misstep now, as Kuminga ultimately settled for $23 million last season before signing for $6.5 million this year. It sure feels like he’s an example of when betting on yourself goes wrong, but it’s still too early to finalize that narrative.
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Yahoo SportsConsidering how much the deal is worth, Kuminga could be looking to play his way into getting a big extension with the Timberwolves following this season. Jonathan Kuminga showed in various games that he can be a scoring threat with the Atlanta Hawks, and he scored 27 points in his debut game with the team.
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Both Edwards and Ball are ball-dominant players, but it is unquestionably Edwards' team, as he has been named an All-Star each of the past four seasons and averaged 28.8 points per game last season.
3 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Yahoo Sports Arenas uses the phrase "Costco members deal" to suggest that Kuminga did not sign for as much as he's actually worth, and he believes the Hawks would have been happy to bring him back this summer, especially at that price.
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02 Bleacher Report During a discussion Friday on Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective (beginning at the 12-minute mark), ESPN NBA insider Tim MacMahon said, "If we're being honest, there's more optimism, I think, from fans about LaMelo going to Minnesota than there is out of front offices around the league. This was looked at as a significant gamble by [T'Wolves president of basketball operations] Tim Connelly, who's known as a riverboat gambler."
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03 SB Nation Jonathan Kuminga has always been a frustrating player. The Golden State Warriors bought into the idea of Kuminga as a high-upside scoring prospect when they took him with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2021 Draft, and it was easy to see the idea in theory. Kuminga has a great frame and elite explosiveness for a forward at 6’8, 225 pounds with a 6’11 wingspan. At his best, he’s a tantalizing downhill bucket-getter who can finish through contact in the halfcourt, fly in transition, and play bully-ball with straight line drives against smaller defenders. It’s an archetype that’s been highly coveted throughout NBA history, but the demands of the modern game put more stress on both feel and skill level, and that’s where Kuminga falls short.
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Sources (3)
- bleacherreport
- sbnation
- yahoosports