After making a flurry of signings early in free agency, the Lakers appear to be fully focused on Jonathan Kuminga as their next target.
Since the Hawks declined his team option to make Kuminga an unrestricted free agent, the Lakers have been linked to the five-year wing. Now that Rui Hachimura has joined the Clippers, the Lakers are even more in need of Kuminga’s services and continue to talk with his representation.
On Tuesday, Anthony Slater of ESPN reported that the Lakers met with Kuminga early
in free agency but haven’t yet made an offer that’s convinced him that LA should be his new basketball home.
The Los Angeles Lakers continue to actively pursue unrestricted free agent wing Jonathan Kuminga, but they have not yet given him an enticing enough offer to commit, league sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
After his $24.3 million team option was declined by the Atlanta Hawks on June 29, Kuminga met virtually the next day with Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and coach JJ Redick, who pitched him on a vision of being a high-minutes wing next to Luka Doncic in a spacious on-court environment conducive to his skill set, league sources told ESPN.
With how fast free agency moves, the Lakers couldn’t sit around and wait on Kuminga.
They’ve made multiple moves since that first conversation, including trading for Walker Kessler and adding Collin Sexton, Quentin Grimes and Sandro Mamukelashvili.
Slater also reported in the piece that the Lakers are continuing to talk to Kuminga’s agent and have made it known he will likely start if he signs.
Pelinka has remained in touch with Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner, subtly improving their offer in recent days, league sources told ESPN, while reiterating to Kuminga his importance to what the Lakers are building around Doncic, a likely starting role and what the opportunity could do for his career.
The fact that they’ve spoken with his agent again and improved their offer indicates they remain very interested in bringing him on. This deep into free agency, one could easily argue that Kuminga is the best wing available. With the Lakers focused on win-now moves, grabbing a player with his upside would be huge.
Considering how much of LA’s cap space is accounted for, it’s no surprise that the talking points President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka is selling to Kuminga during these meetings include his role and the opportunity to play well in an environment that gets a ton of national attention.
Kuminga being a starter with the Lakers sets up a scenario where he can take a deal here, bet on himself and improve his value around the league. The Lakers have gotten players before on deals where they came to LA to accomplish this.
Deandre Ayton is the most recent example. The Blazers bought him out and he came to the Lakers on a modest deal. Though that didn’t necessarily work out with Ayton now reportedly being traded to the Wizards, the idea is a good one and could work for Kuminga.
Still, Kuminga hasn’t bought what the Lakers front office is selling. Slater notes in his piece that Kuminga is still waiting for potentially improved deals, which could come as “offseason dominoes continue to fall.” Considering the Cavs are also reported as one of the teams interested in him, it appears there’s a LeBron-sized elephant in the room.
Pelinka has made some big moves this summer, so we’ll see if he can pull off another by bringing in a relatively young wing with tremendous upside.
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