Jonathan Kuminga is headed to Minnesota, and Portland is left staring at another swing it didn’t land.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Kuminga has agreed to a two-year, $13 million deal with the Timberwolves. Charania also said Kuminga picked Minnesota over offers from the Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, and Portland Trail Blazers.
The deal is a clean one for the Timberwolves, who are getting a 23-year-old former No. 7 overall pick with plenty of room left to grow. Kuminga even reportedly passed on a “similar starting role and $12M-plus annually over three years in L.A,” preferring the shorter commitment and the flexibility that comes with it.
Portland was firmly in the mix, which fits the pattern of Tom Dundon’s first offseason. The Blazers have been connected to Giannis Antetokounmpo, LaMelo Ball, Peyton Watson, and now Kuminga, without closing the deal on any of them. That pursuit also tracks with the kind of move Portland made in the Ja Morant trade, taking a buy-low shot on talent, and it mirrors the approach Dundon has used in rebuilding the NHL Carolina Hurricanes, who recently won the Stanley Cup.
From a basketball standpoint, Kuminga made sense for Portland. In Minnesota, he has a clearer path to a starting job than he would have had with the Blazers, where he likely would have been battling Jrue Holiday and Toumani Camara for minutes with the first unit.
That’s part of why this one stings for Portland. Kuminga would have been the ideal Shaedon Sharpe replacement in the rotation after Sharpe suffered a torn meniscus in an offseason workout and is set to be reevaluated in six months.
Portland does have enough depth in the backcourt to absorb some of that loss, but there’s no one on the roster who can truly copy Sharpe’s blend of shot creation, positional size, and athleticism. Holiday, Lillard, Henderson, and the rest just don’t bring that exact package.
Kuminga’s fit with Portland wasn’t perfect, especially with the wings already on the roster. Still, he was the best external option available to help cover for Sharpe’s injury, and he represented the kind of low-risk, high-reward bet the Blazers have been chasing this offseason.
Instead, he’s in Minnesota, and Portland is likely heading toward the 2026-27 season with that gap still open until Sharpe is finally back.
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