Report: Surprise Team Continues to 'Monitor Kuminga's Situation'

There are several teams that have been linked to a trade for Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, and by now you know them all well.

The Sacramento Kings are the team most interested, while the Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Washington Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans, Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers have been in at least one Kuminga rumor over the last few months.

But until Monday, there had been nothing linking the Los Angeles Lakers to Kuminga.

The Stein Line's Jake Fischer reported that the Lakers "did call Golden State about Kuminga during the sides' summer standoff in restricted free agency" and that they "have likewise continued to monitor Kuminga’s situation while casting a wide net to try to find help on a very limited wing market."

Now, before Warriors fans get out the trade machine to see who they can get from the Lakers, note that Fischer wrote that the Lakers want a "true 3-and-D wing," and Kuminga is not that.

Kuminga's career three-point percentage is 33.1, and it's 32.0 this season. And though Kuminga has the athleticism to be a good point-of-attack defender, he tends to foul too much.

So like with most teams linked to Kuminga, the Lakers won't give up anything of value to get him. But the fact they are interested at all is fascinating.

Who Would the Lakers Give Up in a Kuminga Trade?

It's not clear how the Lakers value their own players outside of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James. But what is clear is the Lakers and Warriors are hard-capped at the first apron and both are almost at the first apron in salary already.

So any trade in which the Lakers get Kuminga will result in them sending out at least $22.7 million in salary. It's $22.7 million because Kuminga's salary will be $23.8 million after the trade due to his trade kicker, and the Lakers currently have $1.1 million in space under the first apron.

But because the Lakers would have to trade multiple players to get to $22.7 million, they'd probably need to send out at least a few million more than that so they can fill out the rest of their roster.

Here are several Lakers players and their salaries:

Rui Hachimura: $18.3 million
Jarred Vanderbilt: $11.6 million
Gabe Vincent: $11.5 million
Maxi Kleber: $11 million
Deandre Ayton: $8.4 million
Jake LaRavia: $6 million
Marcus Smart: $5.1 million
Dalton Knecht: $4 million
Jaxson Hayes: $3.4 million

Trying to figure out how the Lakers would land Kuminga and stay under the first apron and keep the Warriors under the first apron is complicated, and it would involve at least one other team to take a smaller salary from the Lakers for what would probably be a second-round pick.

Though I'm sure the Warriors would have some interest in several of the Lakers' frontcourt options, they are looking for a bigger upgrade like Michael Porter Jr. So if the Lakers get Kuminga, it'll be part of a huge multi-team trade in which the Warriors wouldn't end up with any Lakers players.