Minnesota Sports Forum

The reporting consensus has the Wolves and Lakers as the two consistent land Kuminga. So I thought it made sense to have a tread devoted exclusively to discussing Kuminga and possibility of signing him.

I start off posting a draft analysis of Kuminga from 2021. The crux is that he’s very talented bout doesn’t bother to play defense. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that assessment has changed significantly after 4 NBA seasons.

https://youtu.be/0QScCyAkrjw

He was picked with our draft pick, after the terrible Dlo trade. At the min why not, let him play with a chip on his shoulder and ball out. He was the only reason we didn't just destroy Golden State in our 5 game series win, and he was fantastic in Atlanta's two playoff wins against the Knicks. His best year in the NBA was playing with Chris Paul, maybe playing with ball would help him take that next step.

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 23, 2026 12:19 pm He was picked with our draft pick, after the terrible Dlo trade. At the min why not, let him play with a chip on his shoulder and ball out. He was the only reason we didn't just destroy Golden State in our 5 game series win, and he was fantastic in Atlanta's two playoff wins against the Knicks. His best year in the NBA was playing with Chris Paul, maybe playing with ball would help him take that next step.

That’s my view right now. I would not trade any of our current roster players to do a sign-and-trade. But if he’ll sign here for the minimum that seems like a no-brained for the Wolves. And it’s Orin’s lunge best long-term career move for Kuminga

I'm hoping we land him. We have an obvious hole in our starting lineup and I love his athleticism.

I asked this after giving my Kuminga take in another thread but what is the reasonable Kuminga upside like long term?

Monster wrote: ↑Sun Aug 23, 2026 9:28 pm I asked this after giving my Kuminga take in another thread but what is the reasonable Kuminga upside like long term?

the upside is there but he has Randle-like mentality where if the role doesn't primarily feature him, he loses motivation.

The pro of bringing him in is that it's a great spot to be that big time option on nights where Ant and/or Melo need that extra boost.

The big issue is that for all intents and purposes, this is his third straight walk year and hasn't listened to guys like Kerr who wished he'd sacrifice the scoring for a more team oriented game.

On paper JK makes sense at a minimum, but there a few things I can't get past.

- first, I don't like the idea of making synergistic moves and then making a non synergistic one like this.

- the reason I don't see him as a great fit is because what he's best at (iso scoring) is what we need the least of right now. He also isn't nearly as good at that as he thinks he is. What he is actually best at--- running the floor in transition --- is a great fit, but if that is what he adds than he has to be able to supplement it with strong rebounding and defense, neither of which he does at an above average level.

- he hasn't been a good floor spacer in his career, although I suspect that he would actually shoot pretty well if he's fed good looks by Melo.

I know the counter argument here is, well at a one year minimum what difference does it make. Which, fair enough, but I guess the money doesn't really matter at the end of the day if he's getting all the minutes, but is unhelpful in those minutes

What can be deduced about his mindset if he happens to take a 1 year minimum here?

Will he want to keep doing what led him to this position or will he take the next steps to make himself into a payday player?

We need another big.

Kuminga on a minimum would be a lot of talent per dollar.

But "moodiness" basically derailed our season last year, and Kuminga has "moody" written all over him.

No thanks.

The latest reporting if any of its true is that the Lakers and Hawks are taking again about a sign and trade. One interesting detail is supposedly the Lakers can take back more in a deal of Hardy is included which might make Kuminga willing to take that 3 year deal instead of a prove it deal. There is some reporting that there might be a team willing to take on Dalton K.

I'm usually the guy that's all in on giving a guy a chance and looking at the positives but something about Kuminga makes me want to move on and let him be someone else's problem. I think that becomes even more clear if he somehow gets a team like the Lakers to give him a decent chunk of money in a multi-year deal. I know the other options are pretty underwhelming.

I still don't know what this guy's upside is. I mean he is theoretically more talented than say Derrick Jones Jr. Maybe Kelly Oubre Jr? Kyle Kuzma? Any of those guys for the vet min would be nice to have but none of them are too exciting. Derrick Jones Jr went undrafted so he is having a nice NBA career all things considered. Maybe the Wolves will end up finding another guy like him with someone they bring in this coming month or so.