For weeks it has been reported that free agent forward Jonathan Kuminga was deciding between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves. Kuminga has now made that decision, choosing to join the Timberwolves on a two-year, $13 million contract with a player option in the second year.
It was believed that the Lakers were the favorites to land Kuminga and had they had been recruiting him since the start of free agency. But he ultimately chose to go to Minnesota on a shorter, less lucrative deal in order to have more control over his future, via Shams Charania of ESPN:
Kuminga chose the Timberwolves over offers from the Lakers, Bulls and Trail Blazers — bypassing a similar starting role and $12M-plus annually over three years in L.A. to land in Minnesota for a shorter-term deal and an ability to have more control of his future, sources said. https://t.co/Nq9byvxkII
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 26, 2026
The Lakers’ only route to land Kuminga, other than a minimum contract, was through a sign-and-trade with the Atlanta Hawks. And any deal of that nature must be for at least three years. Kuminga was hoping to land more money in free agency this year, so the ability to re-enter free agency sooner obviously appealed to him.
Even still, he potentially could have gotten more guaranteed money with the Lakers in a sign-and-trade deal. But that didn’t matter as the Hawks weren’t interested in a deal with the Lakers, via Brad Rowland of Locked On Hawks:
Of note, Kuminga did not “bypass” an 8-figure offer from the Lakers because, well, the Lakers couldn’t make that offer without a sign-and-trade that the Hawks didn’t want to do!
— Brad Rowland (@BTRowland) August 26, 2026
In order to complete a deal, the Lakers would have had to send out a player or multiple players in return, which could have been someone like Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht or Jaden Hardy. However, the Hawks already have 17 players under contract and will need to cut that down before the season begins. Adding on another player on a guaranteed deal was just something that did not make sense for them, so the Lakers would have needed to loop in a third team.
The Lakers put a lot of effort into recruiting Kuminga this summer and unfortunately it did not pay off. But the team still has other forward options on the roster such as Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams, not to mention second-year man Adou Thiero, all of whom could potentially make an impact this season.
ESPN projects Lakers to be worse than last season
The Lakers have won at least 50 games in back-to-back seasons, but with the loss of LeBron James and so many new pieces, some are questioning whether they can do that again. And in their regular season predictions, ESPN projected the Lakers to be worse than they were last year.
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