Wednesday afternoon, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that after months of the Jonathan Kuminga sweepstakes, 23-year-old has decided to join the Minnesota Timberwolves on a two year, $13 million dollar deal.
The Timberwolves had long reported interest in Kuminga. According to Charania and The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski, Anthony Edwards, Chris Finch and Tim Connelly all spoke with Kuminga in an effort to recruit him to Minnesota. This news comes after Minnesota missed out on LeBron James in that free agency hunt and were forced to pivot elsewhere.
After trading both Naz Reid and Julius Randle this offseason, it left a large hole in the roster at the power forward position. Much has been discussed on Wolves social media circles, but it’s Kuminga who will take up the mantle and start alongside Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Jaden McDaniels, and Rudy Gobert, giving them a larger wing who can soak up minutes at the four spot.
Kuminga averaged 12.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game on .463/.333/.724 splits in his career with the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks. Kuminga struggled to find his niche for the Warriors after arriving their as the seventh overall pick, notably the pick that the Timberwolves traded away in the Andrew Wiggins and D’Angelo Russell. He showed flashes of top end talent, but just could not carve out a role for himself in Golden State.
He was traded to the Atlanta Hawks at the deadline and Atlanta opted against bringing him back this season.
Jonathan Kuminga will step right in to a ready-made power forward slot with a chip on his shoulder, needing to still prove himself in the NBA landscape. More in depth analysis will be needed before projecting his true role with the team, having a player with his athleticism and skill while getting them for so cheap is huge for the Timberwolves aspirations this season. He does come with question marks on the defensive end, as well as figuring out his best place amongst a winning culture, but the talent is undeniable.
He’ll certainly get his chance to prove himself this year.
It is also important to note that Minnesota cannot sign Kuminga for the reported amount currently. They will need to find a trade or another route to shed some salary in order to fit this contract on their team. More moves will soon be on the docket!
