The Los Angeles Lakers suffered something of a blow to their attempts to fortify their roster when Jonathan Kuminga signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves. They had been pursuing him for much of this summer and had reportedly promised him a starting job when NBA free agency officially began.
Kuminga will be playing for a Timberwolves team that traded away three-time All-Star Julius Randle in July and will need his scoring. But according to Aaron Turner, his agent, the focus was kept on the defensive end when he was deciding which team to join, via Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
“Ant (Anthony Edwards) was super active in the recruitment of him,” Turner told The Athletic. “One thing he did was focus his message on, we’re gonna really guard here.
Everybody looked at the offensive end. JK and I looked more at the defensive end.”
The Timberwolves have been a defensive-minded team under head coach Chris Finch for the last few years. They will have to rely on defense again this season, as they don't have a lot of scoring in their frontcourt, unless Kuminga busts out and improves on his career average of 12.5 points a game.
But perhaps he is about to change his approach.
“He made this decision because of the defensive versatility of this team,” Turner said. “Offense is secondary to what he’s thinking about. It’s going to be whatever we gotta do to win that night. Nobody is going to care about stats or shots.”
The book on Kuminga after five seasons in the NBA is that he thinks of himself as an offensive stud and hasn't been too concerned with making an impact on the defensive end. Ever since he was the No. 7 pick in the 2021 draft, he has been thought to have considerable potential on the defensive end, but his focus and dedication on defense have been inconsistent.
Last season, he was benched while with the Golden State Warriors, and after falling out of favor with coach Steve Kerr, Golden State traded him to the Atlanta Hawks in February.
The Lakers certainly could've used a locked-in, team-oriented version of Kuminga, given that they badly need a starting-level two-way forward.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Jonathan Kuminga's agent on why forward said no to Lakers
