The Los Angeles Lakers remain in the market for a wing player this offseason and one name that has continually been linked to them is Jonathan Kuminga. The explosive wing spent nearly five seasons with the Golden State Warriors before being dealt to the Atlanta Hawks last year.
But despite multiple reports about the Lakers’ interest, Kuminga has yet to agree to a deal with the franchise and that is reportedly due to the team not making him an enticing enough offer to commit, via Anthony Slater of ESPN:
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.
The Lakers added multiple players in free agency, which did limit what they could offer Kuminga, but that has not stopped the front office’s pursuit:
That didn’t stop the Lakers’ pursuit of Kuminga, as multiple members of the organization, including players, reached out and expressed their desire for him to join them. 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.
But Kuminga and Turner haven’t jumped at it, believing there are still avenues to better deals as the offseason dominos continue to fall.
Currently, the Lakers can only offer minimum contracts to free agents and Kuminga surely believes he is worth more than that. The Lakers certainly have the role and opportunity for Kuminga to play big minutes and thrive in a new system, but it sounds as if they will have to find a way to clear some more salary cap space in order to bring him in.
The talent on Kuminga is obvious as he is extremely athletic and has proven to be more than capable as a scorer in the NBA while also being able to lock in defensively when he puts his mind to it. However, he did publicly clash with Warriors coach Steve Kerr over his lack of minutes and the role he was asked to play and, on a team with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, Kuminga would be the third offensive option at best and be relied upon as the team’s primary wing defender.
The fact that Kuminga still has yet to agree to a deal with the other team could be a sign that his market isn’t great, which would bode well for the Lakers in their pursuit. But if the front office is set on signing him, other roster moves could be in order.
Lakers not considered option DeMar DeRozan
Another wing recently hit the open market as the Sacramento Kings released veteran DeMar DeRozan, making him an unrestricted free agent. But the Lakers are not considered a potential landing spot for the Southern California native.
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