What Jonathan Kuminga Must Prove With the Timberwolves

Two weeks ago, Tim Connelly hinted that he and the Minnesota Timberwolves have been in contact with potentially “intriguing” options to fill their mandatory 14th roster spot before the season begins in October.

Previously, the most intriguing available talent was LeBron James. But after he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, the pool of worthwhile signings dried up considerably.

One player in that water was not like the rest: Jonathan Kuminga, a 6’7” forward who averages 12.5 points over his five-year career, an intriguing talent and the lone starting-caliber talent in the NBA’s pool of free agents over the last few months.

Wednesday evening, Kuminga and the Timberwolves agreed to a two-year, $12 million contract, according to The Athletic, with the second year being a player option. Connelly proved that he was, indeed, in meaningful discussions with intriguing talent.

Prior to bringing in Kuminga, the Timberwolves needed not only a natural power forward they could feel comfortable deploying as their everyday starter, but also one who could excel in a certain way.

Now, Kuminga must prove he will be that player in Minnesota.

Minnesota needs Kuminga to do ‘more with less’

Two weeks ago, on a live podcast with Jon Krawczynski, Connelly addressed his free agent pursuit. He said that because of the Wolves’ plethora of volume scorers — comprised of LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, and Ayo Dosunmu, all of whom Connelly mentioned — they were going to need a player who can “do more with less.”

After trading for Ball this summer, the Wolves haven’t needed to acquire more scoring for their starting lineup. Instead, they needed to find a player who could complement their high-volume, on-ball core with someone who is able, willing, and best suited to play in a complementary role. In my eyes, someone a lot like Josh Green or Trey Lyles, two reliable catch-and-shoot 3-point threats who can defend adequately on the other end.

Instead of filling their power forward void from within — which was an option the Wolves could have taken — with an unproblematic offensive player, they brought in a rather polarizing offensive fixture in Kuminga, who is at his best with the ball in his hands in the mid-range and around the rim, struggles to space the floor with his 3-point shot, and will be suiting up for his third team in two years.

The Golden State Warriors selected Kuminga seventh overall in 2021. Kuminga played in 278 regular-season games in the Bay Area. He won a championship with the Warriors in his rookie year. And two seasons later, he averaged a career-high 16.1 points on 52.9% from the floor over 74 games.

He looked like a long-term piece of what the Warriors were building. But Golden State ended up trading Kuminga to the Atlanta Hawks midway through last season after a tense relationship developed between him and Steve Kerr, who began to play Kuminga less consistently.

Toward the end of Kuminga’s time in San Francisco, he recorded a performance that many Timberwolves fans still remember: a 30-point onslaught in Game 3 of the 2025 second round against Minnesota.

Jonathan Kuminga's playoff career high is 30 points. He did it — on 61.1% shooting — in Game 3 of the 2025 second round against Minnesota, a five-game series in which he averaged 20.8 points on 54.3% from the floor and 42.1% from deep over 27.4 minutes. pic.twitter.com/ZfnYsaj4ib
— Charlie Walton (@CharlieWaltonMN) August 26, 2026

By way of injuries to Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, Kuminga was Golden State’s featured volume scorer in Game 3 against Minnesota. That game was a perfect encapsulation of what Kuminga has excelled at throughout his career — scoring in bunches with a downhill focus in isolation.

However, that isn’t what the Timberwolves need most from him.

Kuminga could have signed with the Los Angeles Lakers for a similarly valued deal for three seasons, joining Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves under the bright lights of Los Angeles, according to Shams Charania. Instead, Kuminga took Minnesota’s two-year offer featuring a player’s option in the second year to have more control over his future.

After Atlanta declined Kuminga’s team option earlier this offseason, and he surveyed his options in free agency for months, Kuminga lands with the Timberwolves on a short-term deal, betting on himself to have a good season for the sake of the size and price tag of his next contract.

Kuminga must buy into the small stuff

A “good” season for both Kuminga and the Wolves does not necessarily mean he is filling up the stat sheet and averaging the 16 points per game he did in 2024. For Kuminga to fit in Minnesota and elevate this team to a championship in June, he will need to prove that he can prioritize the complementary parts of his game that he can execute well.

Above his scoring, the Wolves will need Kuminga to buy in consistently on defense and on the glass. He is a switchable, versatile defender who can match up against bigger power forwards, which keeps Jaden McDaniels defending guards and wings. The Wolves will also need Kuminga’s defensive rebounding ability after they lost Julius Randle and Naz Reid in their trade for LaMelo.

Kuminga’s downhill offense is intriguing alongside Minnesota’s new point guard. His rim-running, back-cutting, and lob-catching abilities will play well next to Ball’s elite passing. Kuminga has never shot over 37% from deep in his career.

That will likely cause some spacing friction among him, Edwards, and Rudy Gobert. However, Kuminga is a dynamic enough rim runner that I think Chris Finch and the Wolves can find workarounds to keep the floor spaced around Kuminga’s lack of floor spacing.

Jonathan Kuminga NBA Timberwolves — Jonathan Kuminga's rim-running could play very well alongside LaMelo Ball, an elite lob-thrower, in the Minnesota Timberwolves' offense this season. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When the ball swings to Kuminga on the perimeter and he goes to work in a one-on-one situation, it will be imperative that he makes his moves to score quickly. Kuminga has done that well, leveraging his twitchy side-to-side movement and downhill aggression to put the ball in the hoop quickly. He must do that in Minnesota to help prevent the team-wide offense from gumming up and the ball stagnating for too long.

That isolation-heavy, volume-scoring role Kuminga was in against Minnesota in the playoffs two years ago is not what the Wolves need from him right now. They need Kuminga to prove he can do less with more, maximizing his offensive efficiency in a more complementary role, doing so consistently.

If Kuminga can do that — while remaining focused on the little things — Minnesota’s ceiling can be raised high enough to fit in another deep postseason run this year. Perhaps deeper than ever before.

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