Jonathan Kuminga Heading To Timberwolves On Two-Year Deal

After over a year of rumors and uncertainty, the Jonathan Kuminga saga is finally over. Dating back to his time with the Golden State Warriors, Kuminga’s future has always been unclear, and his free agency this year lingered into late August as he held out in hopes of a favorable deal.

But now, Kuminga’s fate is tied to the Minnesota Timberwolves after agreeing to a two-year, $13 million deal. The agreement comes after months of persistent recruitment efforts, which gave Minnesota the edge over other interested parties, such as the Lakers and Trail Blazers.

“Jonathan Kuminga has agreed to a two-year, $13 million deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, plus a player option, agent Aaron Turner tells ESPN. Kuminga will be a starter alongside Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert on the West contender,” reported ESPN’s Shams Charania on X. “Kuminga chose the Timberwolves over offers from the Lakers, Bulls and Trail Blazers — bypassing a similar starting role and $12M-plus annually over three years in L.A. to land in Minnesota for a shorter-term deal and an ability to have more control of his future.”

Kuminga has a complicated history on the court, but the Timberwolves believe he adds to their star-studded lineup. Besides the chance to compete alongside the game’s biggest stars, the lure for Kuminga was Minnesota’s aggressive recruitment efforts, which involved personal meetings with Anthony Edwards, team President Tim Connelly, and head coach Chris Finch.

“In the last month, the Timberwolves persistently recruited Kuminga, offering their best financial tool in the taxpayer mid-level exception plus a large on-court opportunity,” Shams added. “Edwards was a major part of the full-court recruiting press to sign Kuminga while president Tim Connelly traveled to Miami for a four-hour in-person meeting with Kuminga earlier this month, along with productive conversations between the wing and coach Chris Finch.”

While it’s not the terms that Kuminga was initially after, this arrangement gives him more control over his future with a short-term two-year contract that includes a player option. As a result, we can expect him to be aggressive this upcoming season as he looks to prove his worth and put himself in a position for a pay raise in 2027. How he performs remains to be seen, but picking the Timberwolves makes sense if he wants to maximize his potential for growth.

As it stands, Kuminga won’t be running the show in Minnesota, but he could get a starting role alongside Ball, Edwards, Gobert, and McDaniels. At 23, it’s hard to know what to expect from JK, but he’ll play an important role in the rotation as an athletic wing scorer with career averages of 12.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game on 50.2% shooting from the field.

In the end, this move is yet another win for the Timberwolves that only puts them closer to elite status in the West. Between the additions of LaMelo and Kuminga, they will go into next season with major new upgrades that could challenge the NBA hierarchy as we know it. Only time will tell, but confidence is growing in what they’ve been building.