Jonathan Kuminga is getting something from the Timberwolves that never really stuck with him in Golden State: a real starting job.
According to his agent, Aaron Turner, Minnesota has made it clear that Kuminga will open the season in the first five after signing a two-year, $12.4 million deal earlier in the week. Turner said the role was part of the pitch, and that Chris Finch “did a great job of explaining the role that he envisions.” The setup appears to be simple enough: “Melo, Ant, Jaden, JK, Rudy...”
For Kuminga, that promise mattered. Turner said on Fanduel TV’s Run It Back that his client had never gone into a training camp with a settled starting spot during his nearly five seasons with the Warriors. In Minnesota, that changes right away.
The Timberwolves also seem to have created the opening for it. Minnesota traded Julius Randle and Naz Reid earlier in the offseason, leaving a vacancy at power forward that Kuminga is expected to fill. He reportedly turned down larger offers from other teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers, who could also have offered him a starting role.
That doesn’t mean the arrangement is locked in for the long haul. The article’s warning is pretty clear: if Kuminga stops being the best option, Finch could always change course. And if that happens, there’s a real question about how Kuminga and Turner would respond if the promise that helped land him turns out to be temporary.
That concern isn’t imaginary, either. Kuminga started 97 of his 278 games with Golden State, but his role there was never stable. He opened last season in the Warriors’ lineup, posted 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists in a win over the Lakers on opening night, and then lasted just 12 games before Steve Kerr moved him out of the starting group.
Minnesota’s own lineup picture is still being formed around him, but for now the message is obvious: the Timberwolves are giving Kuminga the chance the Warriors never fully did.
In Other News...
Yaxel Lendeborg Just Got The Perfect Rookie Year Motivation
ESPNs latest Rookie of the Year poll gave Cam Boozer the edge in a crowded first-year class, and it also left Golden State rookie Yaxel Lendeborg outside the top five. For a player who arrived as the 11th pick and has already looked like one of the Warriors more polished young pieces in Summer League, that kind of early omission can serve as fuel. Lendeborg has been part of a promising start in Golden State, helping push the roster to a Summer League championship and giving the franchise a glimpse of a rookie who seems eager to carve out a real role.
The added wrinkle is a budding competition with Boozer, who got the national nod and already met Lendeborg on the floor this summer. Lendeborg said the matchup gave him motivation to prove the projection wrong, and the Warriors will likely enjoy that edge if it travels beyond July. For a team always looking for young players who bring both production and a chip on their shoulder, this is the sort of under-the-radar rivalry worth watching as the season approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Dynasty Nearly Started With One Veterans Warning
Before the Warriors became the leagues defining dynasty, there was a real question hanging over the franchise after a painful 2014 playoff exit about whether the group had already reached its ceiling. Former executive Bob Myers recently revisited that moment on a podcast with Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter, describing how one veteran around the team saw the disappointment differently, reading it as proof the core was close rather than broken.
The warning mattered because the next step was not obvious at the time, and the temptation to rework the roster would have been easy to understand. Instead, the Warriors stayed the course, and the season that followed became the start of a championship run that changed the franchises history, with that veteran eventually stepping away as the dynasty was taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Bob Myers Just Reminded Warriors Fans What Golden State Lost
Bob Myers spent years at the center of the Warriors rise, and even in a new chapter with the Philadelphia 76ers, he still sounds like someone looking back on a run that defined an era in Golden State. The former general manager was a key architect of four championships, helping draft foundational pieces and bringing in Steve Kerr to guide a team that became one of the NBAs modern standards.
In a recent interview, Myers talked about his tenure with the franchise and the part he says he misses most from those years, which is the part no front-office title can really replace. It is a reminder that for all the trophies and roster moves, the bond with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala was a big part of what made the whole thing work, and why the separation still carries some weight. [Read more 🡒]