Jonathan Kuminga’s clearest route to a big payday might be the same one OG Anunoby has already walked.
Anunoby’s value was on full display during the 2026 playoffs, when he established himself as one of the league’s premier role players. He may never make an All-Star team, but he has become the kind of player championship teams lean on because he does his job at the highest level. The New York Knicks don’t win the NBA title without what he brought.
Kuminga is not there yet, especially when it comes to defense or shooting from deep. But the raw material is obvious.
He has the athleticism and natural feel to grow into a version of that kind of player, and that could be the best way for him to land a lucrative long-term deal. If he embraces that path and the Minnesota Timberwolves can keep him around on a longer contract, he would become another young piece for a team with championship-level aspirations.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch was asked about the comparison in an interview with Britt Robson, and he didn’t push back.
"Yeah, absolutely. Like, why not? And as he continues to mature and develop and all these things, he’ll become a better shooter," Finch said after Robson threw out Kuminga becoming an Anunoby-type player.
The appeal of the comparison is pretty simple: Anunoby is the kind of player who makes a good team even harder to stop. The Knicks were rolling last season, and Anunoby was in the mix for Finals MVP by the end of it. He wasn’t their centerpiece or even their second scoring option, but he brought high-level defense every night and kept knocking down the shots that mattered.
That’s the lane Kuminga needs to chase. He has the tools to defend at that level if he stays locked in, and even if he never becomes the kind of 3-point shooter Anunoby is, enough spacing would still make Minnesota a much tougher offense to guard.
The biggest lesson, though, is role discipline. Anunoby doesn’t drift outside what his team needs from him.
If Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, or Josh Hart is cooking, he stays in his lane and lets it ride. He doesn’t force the issue just to get his own numbers.
And when the offense needs a jolt, he can go get it. There are nights when the Knicks need Anunoby to step up and score 25 points, and he’s capable of doing it.
That has to be the model for Kuminga in Minnesota. He needs to be comfortable deferring to Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Jaden McDaniels, or whoever has it going, while also understanding that there will be nights when the Wolves need him to carry more of the scoring load.
The rest of the time, he has to impact the game in other ways. That’s what Anunoby does, and it’s why he earned a five-year, $212 million extension.
Not an All-Star, but a star in his role and paid like one. That’s the blueprint Kuminga should be chasing.
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Chris Finch has already pointed toward the area that will decide the battle: defense. Rebounding and staying out of foul trouble are the clearest ways Kuminga can separate himself, and Minnesota is betting his defensive profile can improve enough to make him a viable long-term answer. For now, the path is simple enough to see, even if the finish line is still ahead. [Read more 🡒]