The Lakers’ Pursuit of Jonathan Kuminga
As the Lakers look to round out their new roster, their pursuit of a wing remains a top priority.
The Lakers have set in stone most of their major free-agent signings and filled 14 of their 15 available roster spots. They’ve clearly set a new direction, prioritizing younger athletes to surround Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
They’ve addressed their need for a big man in acquiring an A-list center who provides rim protection and rebounding. They’ve added bench scoring and have also recently agreed to sign Kevon Looney to a minimum contract to serve as the backup center.
But one glaring flaw in the roster’s construction still lies at forward.
The Lakers still lack some wing depth, and as of now, former Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga remains the best available option.
Mutual Interest Between Kuminga and the Lakers
LA Times’ Brad Turner:
“Jonathan Kuminga is a player the Lakers are after, according to people with knowledge of the situation who said L.A. is looking at a two-year, $20-million deal for Kuminga, the sort of athletic wing player the Lakers need to start at small forward.”
Despite the reported two-year, $20 million offer from the Lakers, Jake Fischer provided an update saying Kuminga is looking for an AAV (Average Annual Value) of around $25 million as opposed to the Lakers’ AAV of $10 million.
As of now, though, the Lakers are out of money to spend. They’ve used up all of their cap on Kessler, Grimes, and Mamu, as well as the room exception ($9 million) to Sexton. The Lakers can only offer the veteran’s minimum ($3.9 million) to free agents at this moment.
How Can the Lakers Create Room For Kuminga?
There are avenues, however, to clear space to land Kuminga, likely involving the contracts of Jarred Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht. Insider Marc Stein suggested that the Hawks may be willing to facilitate a sign-and-trade with the Lakers. The Lakers are also pretty scarce on draft capital, only having a pick swap and three second-round picks available to trade.
L.A. could also look to dump Vanderbilt’s contract to another willing team and would free up a bit of spending power, but not enough to meet Kuminga’s reported desire of $25 million.
A last-ditch attempt at freeing up space would be to waive and stretch Vanderbilt’s contract, which would void the contract and place the Lakers in a position where they’d have to pay roughly $5 million to Vanderbilt for the next five seasons.
There still seems to be several hurdles the Lakers will need to overcome if they are serious about adding Jonathan Kuminga to the roster.
Despite any questions about him as a player, he has tremendous upside, is a talented scorer, possesses the tools and athletic ability to be a great defender, and overall has a ton of room to grow and develop into the player he wants to become.
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