Here's Why Kuminga Turned Down Double The Money From Lakers To Go To Minnesota

Jonathan Kuminga was looking for at least $20M a year in salary as a free agent this summer. Those kinds of offers just weren't out there for him. But he could have gotten $12M annually from his previously preferred destination, the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Why, then, did he wind up settling for a $6M+ salary on a two-year, $12-13M deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves? According to Brian Windhorst on the Hoop Collective podcast Friday morning, it was all about 'betting on himself': 

Brian Windhorst says Jonathan Kuminga is betting on himself:

“He made $20 million last year, he’ll make about $6m and change which is about mid level money. The Lakers were interested in bringing him in via sign and trade. And all sign and trades have to be at least for three… pic.twitter.com/Sb3FqU0wWy

— JayTakes (@SportsWithJay0) August 28, 2026

“Let's be honest. Kuminga has been hoping for the past couple of years that he could land a big contract, and it just hasn't happened," explains Windhorst.

"He made $20 million last year, he’ll make about $6M and change which is about mid level money (this year)... The Lakers were interested in bringing him in via sign-and-trade. And all sign-and-trades have to be at least for three years. So, Kuminga didn’t want to be in a 3-year deal. So this is one of those things where, yeah, he turned down more money, but he turned down more money understandably. He’s betting on himself. Listen, we praise guys like Fred VanVeet for betting on himself.” 

As for why the T-Wolves, Jon Krawczynski explained in The Athletic that it was all about a phone call Kuminga got from Anthony Edwards.

Edwards and Kuminga are kindred basketball spirits, in a way. Two high-flyers who like to put the ball in the basket and delight in breaking down a defender off the dribble with the shot clock winding down. But what really resonated with Kuminga about the conversation, his agent, Aaron Turner, said, was that Edwards didn’t talk about scoring at all. 

'Ant was super active in the recruitment of him,' Turner told The Athletic. 'One thing he did was focus his message on, we’re gonna really guard here. Everybody looked at the offensive end. JK and I looked more at the defensive end.'

In fact, the entire team did a great job selling Kuminga and making him feel wanted.

"Owner Alex Rodriguez connected with him to show him that he would have backing in Minnesota at the highest levels. LaMelo Ball and Jaden McDaniels also reached out, telling him how much they wanted him on the team. And coach Chris Finch had several long conversations with Kuminga about the team’s culture of accountability."

Now, granted, Kuminga does have a player option on the 2027-28 season, so if he feels he can get more money on the open market next summer, he has the opportunity to become a free agent and go chase it.

But if everything goes as planned this season in Minnesota, he might have a difficult decision to make.