Jonathan Kuminga’s agent explains why Timberwolves won him over

Jonathan Kuminga had options. In the end, the Timberwolves apparently made him feel like more than just another option.

Agent Aaron Turner told Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic that Minnesota’s full-court recruiting effort played a major role in Kuminga agreeing to a two-year, $13 million deal with a player option.

“This is your chance to go to a place you can feel believed in,” Turner said he told Kuminga. “They’re going to encourage you. They’re going to push you, but they’re not going to run away from you.”

Turner, by the way, is an Orange, Ohio, native with longstanding ties to the Cleveland area. Kuminga has some Cleveland connections himself, occasionally working out there and drawing interest from the Cavaliers earlier this offseason before they traded for Peyton Watson.

Minnesota ultimately went hardest. Anthony Edwards led the recruiting effort, with LaMelo Ball and Jaden McDaniels also reaching out. Edwards had a particularly compelling sales pitch after seeing Kuminga up close in the 2025 playoffs.

“Ant can relate to JK in a way very few, if any, in the world can,” Turner told Krawczynski. “Him saying, ‘I know what you can do’ meant a lot.”

It didn’t stop with the players. President Tim Connelly met Kuminga for dinner in Miami, coach Chris Finch spoke with him multiple times and ownership reached out, too.

“It was such a solid respect factor from top to bottom,” Turner said.

That’s probably the real story here. After an uneven ending with Golden State and Atlanta declining his $24 million option, Kuminga wanted money and opportunity. But apparently he wanted to feel wanted, too.

The Timberwolves made sure he did. Now comes the basketball part.

“If everybody guards and nobody cares about stats and it’s all about the team and winning,” Turner said, “it’s going to be good.”