The Minnesota Timberwolves have been one of the most impressive teams in the league this season. Even while Anthony Edwards has been sidelined, they have managed to keep up the pace. At least, relatively speaking. And one of the most fun storylines to follow this year has been Jonathan Kuminga, who is showing what the rest of the NBA missed out on.
Kuminga dealt with some tough storylines throughout the first few seasons of his career. He and the Golden State Warriors didn’t quite get along, and he was eventually traded to the Atlanta Hawks at the deadline last year. Then, the Hawks declined his player option, and nobody signed him right away. A few teams showed interest by the end of the summer, but not a ton.
Eventually, the Wolves signed Kuminga to a two-year, $12.4 million contract. Now, it looks incredible, and the rest of the league should regret not having pursued Kuminga in free agency.
Jonathan Kuminga is doing everything the Timberwolves need him to
When Kuminga was in Golden State, he wanted a more consistent offensive role. He wanted to be a focal point on the Warriors. It just didn’t really work out that way.
The Warriors wanted to keep running things through Stephen Curry, and they still do. All the while, Kuminga, who was young and hungry, just wanted to have more freedom.
That never happened, and when he was shipped to the Hawks, he flashed some of the potential that made him a lottery pick. But even then, he clearly didn’t do enough for the Hawks to want to keep him around.
But the Wolves saw something. Not only that, they saw something that gave them enough confidence to promise him a place in the starting lineup before he ever played a game for the franchise.
He’s making that bet well worth it. Just the other night, on Thursday, the Wolves blew out the Dallas Mavericks, and Kuminga put up some impressive stats.
Kuminga finished the night with 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and two steals. He shot 6-of-11 from the field and 1-of-3 from beyond the three-point line.
He’s perfectly buying into his role. Kuminga has found a balance. He’s been very willing to take a step back and play the role the Timberwolves need him to play, and as a result, he’s impacting winning more than ever before.
If the rest of the league knew it could get its hands on this version of Kuminga, he might have made some more money this summer. But now, the Timberwolves look genius, and Kuminga looks great.
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