Jonathan Kuminga's Agent Drops Simply Ridiculous Claims

The Jonathan Kuminga free agency played out in a shocking way, with he and his agent leaving about $30M on the table from the LA Lakers (and apparently close to $30M a year from the Golden State Warriors in previous seasons). He settled with a $6.5 million annual salary from the Minnesota Timberwolves (over two years, with a player option after the coming season). 

The Atlanta Hawks had declined their $24 million option on Kuminga for this year at the end of last season. 

His agent, Aaron Turner, has been absolutely blasted by The Athletic's Sam Vecenie, who said, "This is like complete malpractice as an agent.

"Dude, I'm here to tell you, you fumbled and you [expletive] up, Aaron Turner… How you (think you) made the right decision is baffling. It's completely baffling."

Now, Turner has added to the lunacy of the whole affair, making these simply ridiculous claims on a podcast:

Jonathan Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner, says Kuminga was the best player on the Hawks last season.

“These are facts, these aren’t opinions.”

(Via @KevinOConnor / h/t @OnBallSteph ) pic.twitter.com/zLqNBvDxzY

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 31, 2026

 Aaron Turner says Kuminga was the Hawks' "best player" last season.

Appearing on "The Kevin O'Connor Show", Turner laid out these nuggets:

"He was their best player from the moment he showed up in terms of winning impact. He had the best on/off net rating in the regular season and in the playoffs.

"In their two wins against the Knicks, who had the best net? These are facts. These aren't opinions. Who had the best net rating? Jonathan Kuminga."

Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints has done some pretty quick (and easy to find) fact-checking on those "facts":

From the time he was traded from the Warriors to the Hawks through the end of the regular season, Jonathan Kuminga ranked 6th on the Hawks in plus-minus.

He ranked 5th in total net rating from Feb 24 through the end of the regular season and 9th on the team in the playoffs. https://t.co/xBMoHF3UeO

— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) August 31, 2026

Addressing Turner's fake claims of Kuminga having "The best on/off net rating in the regular season & the playoffs," Siegel pointed out that Kuminga ranked 5th on the Hawks in net rating from the time he arrived in February, and 9th on the team in the playoffs. And he was 6th on the Hawks in plus/minus. 

Former Denver Nuggets star Ty Lawson also trashed Turner after hearing him spout the same kind of mumbo-jumbo:

“Johnathan Kuminga needs (to) pack his agent up immediately.. send that ‘you’re fired’ letter immediately!"

If Turner wants to say anything positive about the decisions he made for his client, he should just stick to the fact that JK, still just 23, will step into Minnesota's vacant starting power forward position, in a killer lineup headed up by Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Jaden McDaniels, and Rudy Gobert. 

Maybe he can turn a good season into a better contract next summer. But whether it will Turner who negotiates it, remains to be seen.