Jonathan Kuminga Signs With Timberwolves, Spurning Lakers and Cavaliers in Free Agency Sweepstakes

Jonathan Kuminga’s long, winding free agency saga has finally reached its conclusion, and it did not end in Los Angeles or Cleveland. The former Golden State Warriors lottery pick has agreed to a two-year, $12.4 million contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, choosing a short-term “prove-it” deal over more lucrative multi-year offers from suitors who chased him for most of the summer.

Kuminga, the No. 7 overall pick by the Warriors in the 2021 NBA Draft, spent parts of last season with both Golden State and the Atlanta Hawks after a February trade sent him and Buddy Hield to Atlanta in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis. He averaged 12.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists across 36 combined games between the two teams, but the Hawks ultimately declined his team option this summer, setting up a free agency period that dragged on for months.

Timberwolves Win Out Over Lakers, Cavaliers

For much of the offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers looked like the frontrunner, reportedly offering Kuminga a three-year deal via sign-and-trade worth more than $12 million annually, with Jarred Vanderbilt and draft compensation heading back to Atlanta. The Cleveland Cavaliers were also in the mix earlier in the summer before pivoting to acquire Peyton Watson in a multi-team blockbuster, which effectively pulled them out of the Kuminga sweepstakes and appeared to hand the Lakers a clearer runway.

Instead, Kuminga bypassed the bigger long-term money to sign with Minnesota on a two-year deal that includes a player option for the second season, giving him a fast path back to unrestricted free agency as soon as next summer if he wants it. League sources told Charania that the shorter-term structure was a deliberate choice, prioritizing control over his next contract rather than locking into a multi-year deal on someone else’s terms. The Timberwolves fill an obvious frontcourt need with the move, having dealt both Julius Randle and Naz Reid this offseason as part of the trade package that brought in point guard LaMelo Ball.

What It Means for Minnesota’s Rotation

At 23 years old, Kuminga slots in as a power forward option who can also handle minutes on the wing, giving head coach Chris Finch another athletic, downhill scorer to pair with Anthony Edwards and Ball in the frontcourt mix. Roster math complicates the move slightly — to fit Kuminga’s cap number below the second tax apron, Minnesota reportedly needs to make a corresponding roster move, with Josh Green expected to be waived and stretched if a trade partner can’t be found before Saturday’s deadline.

The deal caps off a turbulent stretch for Kuminga that began last summer when he signed a two-year, $46.8 million contract to return to Golden State following a restricted free agency standoff, only to request a trade in January once he found himself buried on the Warriors’ bench. Bettors already tracking Minnesota’s revamped roster can check the latest NBA championship odds as the Timberwolves continue reshaping their frontcourt around Edwards and Ball heading into next season.

For Kuminga, the bet is on himself. Rather than accepting a bigger long-term payday from a team like the Lakers, he’s wagering that a featured role in Minnesota’s frontcourt rotation will boost his value enough to cash in on a much larger contract when he reaches the open market again as soon as next offseason. He’s not the only former lottery pick betting on a fresh start this week, either — Bennedict Mathurin agreed to a two-year deal with the Pelicans in a similarly short-term arrangement built around proving his value before hitting the market again.