Clippers Among Teams Eyeing Jonathan Kuminga

According to Scotto, Kuminga and agent Aaron Turner aren’t necessarily seeking a specific salary figure that applies to every interested team — they’re weighing each situation based on a variety of variables, including how Kuminga would fit the roster and how a deal would be structured.

Some of the teams interested in Kuminga would have to send out salary to legally complete a sign-and-trade, which may not appeal to the Hawks, given their crowded roster situation. For instance, Scotto says that while the Lakers and Hawks discussed a possible deal involving Jarred Vanderbilt and a 2032 first-round pick swap, Atlanta doesn’t want to take on the $13.3MM that Vanderbilt is owed in 2027/28.

However, the Clippers are better positioned than those other clubs to complete a Kuminga sign-and-trade without salary matching, since they hold a $17MM trade exception that was generated earlier this month when they sent John Collins to Detroit. They’re also operating well below the luxury tax line.

Still, it may be difficult for the Clippers to move forward on Kuminga in the short term, since the front office is reluctant to make significant roster decisions while awaiting resolution on its Kawhi Leonard trade agreement with the Raptors, Scotto explains. Besides monitoring Kuminga, L.A. also has interest in working out a new deal with restricted free agent guard Bennedict Mathurin, Scotto notes, but that situation is on hold too as the NBA works to wrap up its investigation into Leonard and the Clippers.

Assuming the Clippers complete their Leonard deal and acquire Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick, they’d be at 14 players on standard contracts, so it’s unclear if they’d want to re-sign Mathurin and pursue Kuminga or if they’d focus on one or the other. For what it’s worth, multiple teams have also registered some sign-and-trade interest in Mathurin, sources tell Scotto.

Here are a few more notes on Kuminga’s free agency:

• Despite the roster crunch in Atlanta, it’s not out of the question that Kuminga could re-sign with the Hawks on a one-plus-one contract, league sources tell HoopsHype. Although the Hawks currently have 17 players on standard contracts, Buddy Hield is still a trade candidate, Devin Carter‘s place on the roster seems more tenuous following the acquisition of Ryan Nembhard, and it’s unclear what the club’s plan is for Mouhamed Gueye, who is on an expiring minimum-salary contract and figures to miss a portion of the season after undergoing foot surgery, Scotto writes.
• The Cavaliers have kept tabs on Kuminga as they await LeBron James‘ decision, according to Scotto, who says Max Strus and Dennis Schröder continue to be cited as possible trade candidates in the event that Cleveland needs to shed salary to accommodate either player. The Hornets are one team that has been connected to Schröder, Scotto writes, observing that Charlotte’s head of basketball operations Jeff Peterson and the German point guard were both in Atlanta from 2013-18.
• Scotto wonders if a Lakers might have to send out Dalton Knecht and Jaden Hardy rather than Vanderbilt in order to acquire Kuminga. While Atlanta may not want either Knecht or Hardy, they could hold more appeal to a third team, since they have smaller cap hits than Vanderbilt and aren’t owed any guaranteed money beyond 2026/27.