Draymond Green believes Jonathan Kuminga needs to forget about the money he potentially left on the table and focus on succeeding with the Minnesota Timberwolves. But he sees a very big risk with his former teammate’s decision.
Speaking on The Draymond Green Show, Green spoke about how Kuminga’s two-year deal with the Timberwolves includes a player option for the second season. While Kuminga is expected to become the Timberwolves’ starting power forward, Green warned that this relatively small contract could make his starting position less secure than it should be.
“JK, Jonathan Kuminga, signed with the Timberwolves on a two-year, $13 million deal, plus a player option in the second year. I see a lot of people talking about JK and the dollar amounts, and like, listen, man, so oftentimes people sit back and look at what happened in the past, and they just wanna always point to that, point to that.”
“But at some point, if there was a number, that was two years ago. Now he has to move on from the situation to ultimately put himself in a better position. He’s been promised, you know, the starting four spot role. Now, here’s where those things get dicey.”
“When you go to a team on a lower-level salary, in this case, the taxpayer mid-level, and all of a sudden that starting lineup isn’t getting off to great starts, the analytics say this group isn’t working that well together for whatever reason, a six-and-a-half-million-dollar salary in the NBA is a bench-role salary. Your salary determines ultimately how a team treats you. For instance, look at Deshaun Watson.”
“The Cleveland Browns have to give him an opportunity because of his salary. And so my only worry for JK is that if it’s not working, you’re the first plug that gets pulled.”
Kuminga will make approximately $6.5 million next season, putting him eighth among the Timberwolves’ highest-paid players. In Green’s view, salaries matter when teams decide which players should get more patience and which are more expendable when the lineup isn’t producing results.
It is a very legitimate concern considering how important this season could be for Kuminga’s career.
The 23-year-old chose the Timberwolves despite a big offer from the Lakers. The Lakers reportedly were ready to offer him a three-year, $12 million annual contract and saw him as their starting power forward for the future.
Kuminga instead chose a shorter contract, which could allow him to return to free agency next summer and get the much bigger contract that he has wanted for the last few years.
And that makes this starting role especially important.
The good news for Kuminga is that the Timberwolves currently have plenty of incentive to give him an extended opportunity. Donte DiVincenzo is expected to be unavailable due to his Achilles injury, which reduces the Timberwolves’ established alternatives and increases the need for Kuminga’s athleticism in this rotation.
But Green’s point does become important if the Minnesota Timberwolves identify another option. If the projected starting lineup struggles analytically, Kuminga could be the easiest player to move to the bench.
The Timberwolves have a much larger financial commitment to other players on the roster, and these players would naturally be more difficult to remove from prominent roles.
Kuminga therefore enters this season with an enormous opportunity, but with very limited contractual security. Green doesn’t think there is much value in continuing to discuss what Kuminga could have earned in the past, and that might be the ultimate challenge facing Kuminga.
The Timberwolves have given him the starting role that he wanted and the contractual flexibility to bet on himself. Now he has to play well enough to make sure the Timberwolves have no reason to pull him from the starting lineup.
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