The Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t land Jonathan Kuminga by accident. They spent the last seven weeks selling him on a role, a fit, and a future.
After trading for LaMelo Ball, Minnesota made Kuminga a priority in free agency. At first, the Wolves didn’t believe they had much of a chance to bring him to the upper Midwest. But Tim Connelly, Chris Finch, and Anthony Edwards all joined the pitch, and that effort eventually paid off.
Kuminga passed on a reported three-year, roughly $36 million offer from the Los Angeles Lakers and chose Minnesota instead, signing a two-year, $12.4 million deal. On paper, that gives him just one season in real terms, since the second year is a player option. The Wolves, though, think this could grow into something longer.
"This was an opportunity to add a 23-year-old player who is on the same timeline as the core of this team, and see what happens," Wolves general manager Matt Lloyd said on the Flagrant Howls podcast last week. "It doesn’t mean it’s a one-year deal. It could be a long-term relationship."
That future, if it comes, won’t be built on Kuminga chasing numbers. Minnesota knows what kind of scorer he can be.
The Wolves remember the 30 points he put on them in Game 3 of the second round of the NBA playoffs two years ago. They know he can shoulder a bigger offensive load in certain lineups this season.
But the bigger ask is simpler and tougher: fit in around Edwards, Ball, and Jaden McDaniels, keep the ball moving, defend at a high level, and help win games without needing the offense to run through him.
The Wolves are especially drawn to what he can do on the defensive end. His athleticism and ability to cut off the ball also make him a natural fit in a lineup that needed help at power forward and could use more juice next to Ball.
Kuminga seems to understand exactly where he stands in the pecking order. He is not walking into Minnesota expecting to be one of the top two players in field-goal attempts by season’s end. What brought him there was the chance to plug into a team that already has a structure in place and a core on his timeline.
Minnesota has seen this formula work before. Two years ago, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was finishing the final season of a two-year, $9 million deal with the Wolves. He played all 82 regular-season games and became one of the team’s steadiest positive forces in a season that went up and down.
Alexander-Walker averaged 8 points per game, took 7.5 shots a night, and started only 10 games. Even without eye-popping usage, he helped drive winning with efficient scoring and relentless defense. That approach later earned him a four-year, $60.6 million contract with the Atlanta Hawks.
That is the template Minnesota would love to see Kuminga follow. If he plays with that same team-first edge, the Wolves believe his next payday could come in Minnesota. If not, he still has to prove he belongs in the long-term picture.
For now, the message is clear: the box score is not the point. Winning is.
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