The Boston Celtics still have one roster spot open, and Jonathan Kuminga has emerged as a name worth watching.
Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale recently pegged Kuminga as the second-best free agent still on the board and listed Boston among the best landing spots for him. The other teams in that mix were the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves.
The biggest question hanging over Kuminga’s market is what kind of deal he can actually command. Favale pointed to a reported asking price of $14 million to $16 million per year, but said that number may be out of reach this late in the offseason.
"His reported asking price of $14 to $16 million per year feels like a pipe dream this late into the offseason," Favale wrote. "Cap-space and exception spending have dried up, and Atlanta is close enough to the luxury tax it almost assuredly won't want to take back money as part of a sign-and-trade.
"Tack on a list of suitors featuring flexibility-starved teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers, and Kuminga may have no choice but to sign a cheap prove-it contract.
"Just about any squad should welcome the dice roll under those circumstances. Kuminga remains a wild card, but he routinely ranks among the leaders in self-generated shots at the rim and fouls-drawn rate. If he can get back to hitting his catch-and-shoot threes, while taking more of them, the rest of his flaws become much easier to overlook."
Kuminga, 23, remains one of the league’s more polarizing players. He was drafted No. 7 overall in 2021 and has shown flashes of star-level upside, but he has also struggled to lock down a dependable role with both Golden State and Atlanta. His future is still unsettled.
Over five seasons, Kuminga has averaged 12.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.6 steals per game while shooting 50.2 percent from the field and 33.2 percent from 3-point range.
How he performs at his next stop could shape the rest of his NBA career.
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The comments also fit the broader history between these teams, which has become one of the leagues most familiar sources of tension. For the Celtics, it is one more reminder that even a holiday showcase can carry real stakes when the opponent knows the rivalry, embraces it, and now has a star in the middle of it willing to publicly lean into the moment. [Read more 🡒]