The Los Angeles Lakers, it turns out, have likely made their best off to Jonathan Kuminga, and the fact that he has not signed on with the team here in free agency is likely a sign that he won’t be coming to L.A. after more than a month of flirtation. No doubt, Kuminga is a good fit for the Lakers, who need another forward and would likely drop the former Warriors lottery pick into the starting lineup from the get-go. But there’s more than just fit at play here.
Kuminga, who has averaged 12.5 points in five NBA seasons, was traded to the Hawks last year at the NBA trade deadline, and played 16 games for Atlanta down the stretch. But he had some struggles in the Hawks’ loss to the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs, and was caught off guard when the Hawks declined to pick up his $24 million player option for next season.
That sent Kuminga into free agency for the second year in a row, and for the second year in a row, he remains unsigned as we head toward mid-August.
Jonathan Kuminga Would Like to Play for Lakers
Lakers fans and observers have been piecing together ways to get Kuminga onto the roster, but the fact is, all the possibilities have pretty much ben known to both Kuminga and the Lakers since last month.
One NBA executive said that free agent Jonathan Kuminga is not likely to shake out anything new on the market.
As he said, “I think he would like to play for the Lakers and they’d like to have him, but I know they–and a lot of teams–have already told him, ‘Look, this is what we can do,’ so he has all the information. The money, the cap space, it has been spent. He’s not waiting for anything new out there, because there is nothing new that’s gonna happen. So, he is stuck. But he is entitled to take as much time as he wants.”
Lakers Made an Offer in July
As for what might be delaying Kuminga’s decision, chances are, it has nothing to do with the Lakers. L.A. made a sincere offer in early July for Kuminga to sign a two-year, $20 million contract that would have given him the option to leave after the season and test the market in free agency again. That was not enough money for Kuminga, though.
The Lakers’ efforts to get him through a sign-and-trade have probably been overblown–the Lakers don’t have the assets to entice the Hawks or anyone else to do a three-team sign-and-trade, and the Lakers would only offer Kuminga a modest salary. But that deal would have to be for three years.
Jonathan Kuminga to Bucks?
So the Kuminga saga drags on, and it is likely the ship sailed for the Lakers a month ago. It is possible that Kuminga will be forced to take a one-year minimum deal, and maybe the Lakers get back into the thick of things that way. But that’s unlikely. Kuminga is now holding out to see what happens with Nuggets restricted free agent Peyton Watson, because if Watson does not go to Milwaukee, Kuminga could be a fit there.
But the Bucks are the front-runner to get Watson this summer, if Watson leaves Denver. The Clippers, who are being held up by the Kawhi Leonard-Aspiration scandal, are a potential suitor for Watson, too, and that might be part of the hold up on Kuminga, too.
Lakers Pursuit of Jonathan Kuminga Still ‘Stuck’: NBA Exec