The contract gap between Jonathan Kuminga and the Los Angeles Lakers may not be as wide as it appeared only a day ago.
Earlier this week, California Post’s Khobi Price reported that the Lakers had offered Kuminga a two-year, $20 million contract as they searched for a financially viable path to add the 23-year-old forward.
On Friday, NBA insider Jake Fischer confirmed that figure in The Stein Line while revealing what could be a meaningful shift in Kuminga’s negotiating stance.
While Kuminga is still seeking more than the Lakers’ reported two-year, $20 million offer, Fischer wrote that the former lottery pick has become increasingly open to creative contract structures.
“While Kuminga would naturally be hoping for a richer deal than that, I’m told that the 23-year-old scorer is indeed open to various contract structures below his 2025-26 season salary of $22.5 million, depending on what sort of sign-and-trade scenarios materialize from known suitors such as the Lakers and Cavaliers,” Fischer wrote in The Stein Line.
The update represents a notable change from Fischer’s comments just one day earlier during a Bleacher Report livestream from NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
Kuminga’s Contract Stance Appears to Be Evolving
GettyJonathan Kuminga remains the Lakers’ top wing target as Los Angeles explores sign-and-trade and other roster-building options to reshape the team around Luka Doncic.
On Thursday, Fischer said Kuminga was still pursuing a deal closer to the approximately $25 million annual salary that surfaced during his negotiations with the Golden State Warriors last offseason.
“I do believe that Kuminga is looking for something more than that $25 million ballpark that he landed last year from Golden State,” Fischer said. “Quite frankly, I find it difficult to imagine he’s going to find that number on this marketplace.”
Longtime NBA insider Marc Stein echoed that assessment during the same livestream.
“If he can get 20 over two at this point in the summer, given where’s the other cap space?” Stein said. “There’s no cap space left anywhere, really.”
Fischer’s latest report suggests Kuminga’s camp has begun adjusting to that reality.
Although the former Hawks forward still hopes to secure more than the Lakers’ reported offer, his willingness to consider deals below $22.5 million represents a meaningful softening from the $25 million annual figure Fischer discussed Thursday.
Lakers Still Need Hawks’ Cooperation
Kuminga’s flexibility does not eliminate the biggest obstacle facing the Lakers.
Los Angeles still lacks the cap room to sign him outright at the salary both sides envision after exhausting most of its approximately $52 million in cap space during an aggressive offseason.
The Lakers reshaped their roster following LeBron James‘ departure by acquiring Walker Kessler in a sign-and-trade and signing Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton and Kevon Looney.
That spending has left president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka searching for a sign-and-trade with Atlanta, which would allow the Lakers to exceed their remaining spending power while giving Kuminga access to a richer contract than Los Angeles can currently offer on its own.
Fischer also reported that Kuminga and his agent, Aaron Turner, president of Verus Management Team, have maintained ongoing dialogue with the Lakers about a potential role alongside Luka Dončić.
If Kuminga ultimately changes teams this offseason, Fischer wrote, it will “almost certainly” happen through a sign-and-trade rather than through available cap space.
For the Lakers, Kuminga’s apparent willingness to compromise on contract structure removes one of the major hurdles that surfaced earlier this week.
The harder part now is constructing a trade package that satisfies Atlanta while creating enough financial flexibility to turn the mutual interest between Kuminga and Los Angeles into a deal.
Lakers Target Jonathan Kuminga Softens Salary Demand