The Lakers may be interested in Jonathan Kuminga, but the same question that followed him through nearly five seasons with the Warriors is already waiting for him in Los Angeles: is he willing to play the role his team needs?
Kuminga remains unsigned more than a month into free agency, and the Lakers are still viewed as one of the top landing spots. But insider Jovan Buha has already pointed to the potential problem at the center of the fit if Kuminga ends up in Los Angeles under JJ Redick.
"The Lakers need Kuminga to be their Aaron Gordon, their Andrew Wiggins, doing the dirty work. I don't know if he's ready to commit to that role. If he's not playing team basketball, then it's the wrong fit," Buha said.
That tension has been there for a while. Kuminga has long seen himself as a future star and an elite scorer, while Steve Kerr wanted something different from him in Golden State: defense, rebounding and the kind of hustle work that doesn’t always show up in the box score but keeps winning possessions alive.
For stretches, Kuminga gave the Warriors exactly that. He flashed two-way impact and real value in spurts, including early last season when he opened against the Lakers with 17 points, nine rebounds and six assists on 6-of-11 shooting in a 119-109 road win.
But those runs never lasted long. His influence would fade after a week or two, and he often found himself moved out of the starting lineup or even out of the rotation altogether. Kerr’s quick hook on the former seventh overall pick was part of the story, but so was the bigger pattern: a player who never quite settled into the role his team kept asking him to own.
Even with a couple of strong playoff performances, Golden State didn’t seem convinced enough to keep betting on his winning impact. They declined his team option and allowed him to enter the market as an unrestricted free agent.
If Kuminga can buy into that kind of role with the Lakers, it would be the sort of development that would frustrate Kerr and the Warriors. It would also be the path that gives him the best shot at becoming a $25-30+ million player, even if it never leads to the All-Star ceiling he once wanted.
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