One of the final pieces of the NBA offseason has fallen into place.
Free agent forward Jonathan Kuminga has agreed to a two-year contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves worth $12.4 million, his agent told ESPN. The second season is a player option.
In late June, the Hawks declined Kuminga’s $24.3 million team option, making him a free agent. The Lakers had been linked to Kuminga this offseason, but their cap situation made acquiring him complicated − though they did offer Kuminga a three-year deal worth over $12 million per season, according to ESPN.
With the Timberwolves, Kuminga gets the chance to start alongside Anthony Edwards and newly-acquired guard LaMelo Ball, providing another scoring and slashing threat. An increased role had been a priority for Kuminga, who had started just 24 games across the last two seasons.
Kuminga, 23, is set to enter his sixth year in the league, but is nonetheless very young despite his experience in the NBA.
In fact, Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg — the No. 11 overall selection in the 2026 NBA Draft, playing for Kuminga’s old team — is actually six days older than Kuminga.
The weakness in Kuminga’s game is his perimeter shooting — he converted just 33.3% of his 3-point attempts last season — and defense. The Timberwolves will need to mask some of those defensive deficiencies, but they are well equipped to do so with stoppers like forward Jaden McDaniels and center Rudy Gobert.
Across 36 games last season, Kuminga averaged 12.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jonathan Kuminga signing with Timberwolves: What deal means
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