The Jonathan Kuminga saga in free agency ran far longer than anyone anticipated. He didn’t choose his team until late August, and had several suitors, including the Los Angeles Lakers. He ultimately landed on a two-year, $13 million deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves that gives him a starting role and the ability to return to free agency next summer and land a bigger deal.
All reports suggested that the Lakers were offering a deal in the ballpark of three years, $36 million. That is significantly more than what he got from the Timberwolves, but would have locked him in for three seasons instead of one. Kuminga, though, is now suggesting that the Lakers never offered anything like that and that no extra money was turned down.
“Let’s talk a little bit about Kuminga. We got some clarification here,” Darren Moore said on Ball in the Family podcast with Lonzo Ball. “Kuminga actually DM’d me, and so we can clear this up for everyone, I’m going to read it verbatim. He said, ‘Gang, I saw the interview, and I never turned down no bread. None of that had ever been offered.’ From the source himself.”
This from Kuminga is counter to everything that’s been reported about his free agency saga. The Lakers appeared to be courting Kuminga on a three-year sign-and-trade for the bulk of the offseason, so it seems unlikely that they never made any sort of formal offer.
Regardless, seeing this from Kuminga adds even more fuel to the fire that missing out on him is a blessing in disguise. Kuminga will now play out the 2026-27 season with the Timberwolves on what is essentially an expiring deal, and will be looking for opportunities to earn himself big money in the long term.
It still remains to be seen if Kuminga can play a role on a team, and the Lakers won’t be the team to figure out if he can.
Michael Porter Jr. doesn’t believe in Lakers
Continuing the tour of players on other teams talking about the Lakers, Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. gave his thoughts on the new-look L.A. roster.
He said that he doesn’t believe that the Lakers have a championship-contending roster, echoing a similar sentiment from Chicago Bulls guard Norman Powell. Games still have to be played, and players are certainly just using the offseason to get headlines, but that feeling about the Lakers seems to be common.
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