The saga that never ends. Jonathan Kuminga - the 23-year-old forward who spent last season with the Warriors and Hawks - remains an unrestricted free agent, even this late into the period.
For most of the summer, after Atlanta declined his team option for the 2026-27 season, Kuminga's been linked most heavily to the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers.
There is a team, however, that's been mentioned briefly, but is starting to generate more noise. After the Cavaliers traded for Denver's Peyton Watson, it effectively eliminated them from the sweepstakes, narrowing down his list of potential landing spots.
The Lakers, of course, and most recently - the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Minnesota could present Atlanta/Kuminga a pretty compelling offer
For a free agent who wants more annual value than most teams are willing to offer, negotiations are no simple task.
It's why a deal still hasn't taken place. His camp wants above $20 million a year, and for sign-and-trades - which is the only way competitive teams could bring him in - a contract has to be for at least three seasons.
Committing that much money to a player who's still considered raw is a major risk.
The Timberwolves, however, could be set up to take the gamble. Looking to take that next step in the Western Conference standings, Minnesota hasn't shied away from bold moves this summer.
After bringing in All-Star point guard LaMelo Ball via trade with the Charlotte Hornets, grabbing a complementary forward who's proven to thrive in fast-paced systems could go a long way.
And if their recent moves are any indicator, they plan on playing pretty quickly.
Again, they don't have the cap space necessary to just sign him to his expected value outright, but a sign-and-trade could get it done.
While Atlanta likely wouldn't want to bring in any extra money or players - given that they're already at 17 - they could loop in a third team to take on some salary.
The previous trade set an interesting precedent
A grand total of five teams worked together to get the Peyton Watson-Cleveland deal done. Denver didn't want to take on Max Strus' salary, so they opened it up and sent him to the Clippers.
Maybe something involving Donte DiVincenzo - the quality guard expected to miss most of the 2026-27 season after suffering a devastating injury in his last time out - could get the ball rolling.
Even this late into the summer, organizations are clearly willing to work together in order to get a deal done.
At this point, Kuminga ending up anywhere other than Los Angeles or Minnesota would come as a surprise.
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