Insiders on how much money Lakers target Jonathan Kuminga is seeking
· Yahoo Sports
The Los Angeles Lakers still want free agent forward Jonathan Kuminga, and according to a recent report by Khobi Price of the California Post, Kuminga also wants to join the Lakers. But the math doesn't seem to be mathing for either side.
The Lakers are thought to prefer to give Kuminga a two-year contract for a total of $20 million. They could either clear the requisite salary cap space by trading away a couple of players, such as Jarred Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht, and not taking any salary back, or they could execute a sign-and-trade with the Atlanta Hawks, the team Kuminga finished this past season with.
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But it looks like Kuminga is looking for much more than the Lakers may be able or willing to offer him. During a livestream in Las Vegas, where the NBA's main summer league is being held, insider Jake Fischer revealed the dollar amount Kuminga and his agent are seeking (h/t Heavy Sports).
“I do believe that Kuminga is looking for something more than that $25 million ballpark that he landed last year from Golden State,” Fischer said.
That would be a dollar amount that would probably not be feasible for Los Angeles. However, Fischer also added that it may not be a feasible dollar amount for Kuminga himself.
“Quite frankly, I find it difficult to imagine he’s going to find that number on this marketplace.”
Fellow NBA insider Marc Stein also implied that perhaps the Lakers could end up succeeding in getting the 23-year-old high-flyer at their preferred price point.
“If he can get 20 over two at this point in the summer, given where’s the other cap space?” Stein said. “There’s no cap space left anywhere, really.”
Kuminga would come with some serious question marks, namely his subpar 3-point shooting and his intangibles. But he can put up points and finish strong in transition, and he at least has the ability to be a high-level defender. He also played on a Golden State Warriors team that won the NBA championship in 2022, and that type of experience wouldn't exactly hurt a Lakers squad that is suddenly rather young.
In five seasons, he has career averages of 12.5 points on 50.2% shooting and 4.2 rebounds in 22.1 minutes a game.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Insiders on how much money Lakers target Jonathan Kuminga is seeking