How Jonathan Kuminga Could Turn Into a Long-Term Wolves Piece

The Timberwolves see their new starting power forward as a potential long-term piece — but he must play a certain way for his next contract to be in Minnesota.

Jonathan Kuminga will be asked not only to do what he's good at, but also to do the things that don't show up in the box score. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Minnesota Timberwolves shifted their sights on free agent Jonathan Kuminga immediately after trading for LaMelo Ball. Initially, the Wolves didn’t think they had a great shot at luring Kuminga to the upper Midwest.

But over the last seven weeks, Tim Connelly, Chris Finch, and Anthony Edwards all put on their recruiting hats. Collectively, they convinced Kuminga that Minnesota provides him with a position to succeed while building on what the Wolves had already established. 

The prospect of that fit led Kuminga to turn down a reported three-year, roughly $36 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers and sign with the Wolves on a two-year, $12.4 million deal.

Essentially, Kuminga’s contract in Minnesota is for one season, as the second year is a player option. However, the Wolves believe there is a chance Kuminga can be a long-term piece for them. But in order for Kuminga’s next payday to be in Minnesota, he will need to earn it not by playing as he is in a contract year, but by playing in a way that always prioritizes winning over personal stats.

Jonathan Kuminga's athleticism and defensive abilities could help prove to the Minnesota Timberwolves that he is a long-term part of what they are building. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"This was an opportunity to add a 23-year-old player who is on the same timeline as the core of this team, and see what happens," Wolves general manager Matt Lloyd said on the Flagrant Howls podcast last week. "It doesn’t mean it’s a one-year deal. It could be a long-term relationship."

Typically, when a professional athlete plays in the final year of their contract, there is extra motivation to fill up the stat sheet as consistently as possible to increase the value and long-term stability of their next contract. And sometimes, when a player adopts that mindset, they put their personal goals before the team's goals.

But that isn’t always the case. Sometimes players star in their role—however limited it may be—during a contract year and still reap the rewards of a large contract afterward.

Two years ago, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was playing out the final season of a two-year, $9 million contract with the Wolves. He played in all 82 regular-season games, finishing the year as Minnesota’s most consistent presence of positive production during an up-and-down season for the team.

Alexander-Walker only averaged 8 points per game, though. He took only 7.5 shots per game (one more than the previous season), 4.5 threes per game (0.4 more than the previous year), and started only 10 games.

Still, during his two years in Minnesota’s rotation, Alexander-Walker drove winning as well as any player on the team. He was an efficient scorer in limited volume, and he defended his tail off. Alexander-Walker played himself into a four-year, $60.6 million contract with the Atlanta Hawks by carrying a team-first attitude during his contract year.

To get an extension in Minnesota, Kuminga must do the same

Kuminga can be a volume scorer. The Wolves certainly remember the 30 points he dropped on them in Game 3 of the second round of the NBA playoffs two years ago. And in certain lineup combinations this season, the Wolves will need Kuminga to be that on-ball-heavy player.

But primarily, as he shares the floor with Edwards, LaMelo Ball, and Jaden McDaniels, the Wolves will need him to produce winning basketball while taking fewer shots than he has averaged in the past. And even more than his athletic offense, the Wolves are excited to add his defensive abilities.

Last year, [Atlanta] played New York in the playoffs, and he was guarding across multiple positions, Lloyd said on Flagrant Howls. He was guarding Jalen Brunson, he was guarding KAT, and he was guarding O.G. Anunoby. And that is the most enticing piece to add to our existing team because it kind of locks the starting lineup together.

Kuminga appears aware of where he sits on Minnesota’s scoring totem pole and is ready to do whatever it takes to drive winning. And honestly, it would be a bit surprising if he signed with the Wolves expecting to be in the top two in field-goal attempts at the end of this season.

The former No. 7 pick signed with the Wolves largely because of the basketball fit—how he can fit alongside their preexisting pieces and accentuate a starting lineup that needed his defense at the power forward spot and would greatly benefit from his off-ball cutting and above-the-rim athleticism next to Ball.

There is a world where Tim Connelly, Lloyd, and their front office staff extend Kuminga to a long-term contract after this season. But they won’t need him to put up sexy numbers in the box score to realize Kuminga’s importance to Minnesota’s success within its young core. That isn’t what the Wolves will need to reach their ceiling with Kuminga this season.

Instead, they need him to adopt a mindset similar to Alexander-Walker’s two years ago: willing to do more with less, putting winning first, and defending at a high level. All of that will help make Kuminga look like an integral part of Minnesota’s future. Not filling up the box score.

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