Jonathan Kuminga has agreed to a two-year contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, ending a free-agency chase that included a bigger offer from the Los Angeles Lakers. The move was reported August 26, 2026, by ESPN’s Shams Charania, citing Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner.
Key facts
- Player: Jonathan Kuminga, 23, forward
- New team: Minnesota Timberwolves, two-year contract
- Terms: Second year is a player option
- Reported by: ESPN’s Shams Charania, citing agent Aaron Turner, on August 26, 2026
- Value reported: roughly $12.4M (ESPN, CBS Sports) or closer to $13M (Yahoo Sports, IBTimes UK) — not yet team- or league-confirmed
- Previous team: Atlanta Hawks, who declined his roughly $24.3 million team option — a team-controlled contract choice — in late June, making him an unrestricted free agent, free to sign with any team
- Passed up: a reported three-year Lakers sign-and-trade offer — meaning a deal built around a trade as part of the signing — worth more than $12 million a season
Why he passed on the Lakers
Already an unrestricted free agent after the Hawks declined his contract option, the forward turned down a reported three-year offer from the Lakers — structured as a sign-and-trade, meaning a deal built around a trade as part of the signing, and worth more than $12 million a season — along with interest from the Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers, to take Minnesota’s shorter contract instead. Reports indicate the shorter deal preserves future free-agency flexibility: a two-year deal gets him back on the free-agent market sooner, and the second season is a player option, meaning Kuminga himself will decide next summer whether to stay or test the market again.
Contract value still unconfirmed
No team or league statement has confirmed the signing, so for now the deal remains an agent-reported agreement rather than a formally executed contract; reports also disagree on its total value. Reports put the two-year total at either roughly $12.4M or closer to $13M. ESPN and CBS Sports report the $12.4M figure; Yahoo Sports and IBTimes UK report the $13M number instead. CBS Sports adds that the first-season salary is $6.1 million and that Minnesota used its taxpayer midlevel exception — a salary-cap tool that lets a team already over the cap sign a player — to get the deal done.
How Minnesota recruited him
Minnesota pushed hard to land him. Team president Tim Connelly flew to Miami for an in-person meeting that ran roughly four hours, and head coach Chris Finch and star guard Anthony Edwards were both directly involved in recruiting him. Minnesota pitched Kuminga as its starting power forward alongside Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert, and he is expected to fill that spot. That spot opened when the Timberwolves traded away Julius Randle and Naz Reid earlier this year. Ball himself, along with reserve wing Josh Green, arrived in Minnesota in a separate June trade with Charlotte.
What happens to Josh Green
Green’s situation is the one loose thread in the deal. To fit Kuminga’s contract under the roster and salary-cap rules, the Timberwolves are expected to either trade him or waive him and stretch the remaining money over future seasons, ahead of a deadline reported as this coming Saturday. Which of those two options the team will take has not been reported.
Kuminga’s path to Minnesota
Kuminga, 23, was Golden State’s No. 7 overall pick in 2021 out of the G League Ignite program. His path to Minnesota ran through a rocky stretch: he requested a trade from the Warriors, and in February 2026 Golden State sent him and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks for Kristaps Porzingis. He didn’t stay in Atlanta long — the Hawks declined his roughly $24.3 million team option in late June, making him an unrestricted free agent. In his lone playoff run with Atlanta, he averaged 13.7 points a game off the bench in a first-round loss to the New York Knicks, and posted roughly 12 points and 5.5 rebounds a game with the Hawks overall.
Timeline
- 2021: Kuminga drafted No. 7 overall by the Golden State Warriors out of the G League Ignite program
- February 2026: Golden State trades Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks for Kristaps Porzingis
- June 2026: Timberwolves trade with Charlotte brings LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to Minnesota
- Late June 2026: Hawks decline Kuminga’s roughly $24.3 million team option, making him an unrestricted free agent
- August 26, 2026: ESPN’s Shams Charania reports Kuminga has agreed to a two-year deal with Minnesota
- This coming Saturday: Reported deadline for the Timberwolves to trade or waive Josh Green to fit Kuminga’s contract