Since the Minnesota Timberwolves signed Jonathan Kuminga, it's become clear that the organization made a significant push to sign him and that they truly believe in him. This can be highlighted by his near-daily conversations with Anthony Edwards before signing in Minnesota, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly meeting with Kuminga in Miami, part-owner Alex Rodriguez meeting with him, and Chris Finch also playing a part in the recruiting process.
During a recent interview with the Star Tribune, general manager Matt Lloyd revealed that he exchanged 94 phone calls in roughly five weeks with Kuminga's camp.
"We went through my phone, and we had 94 phone calls (with Kuminga's camp). Call it from July 15th to the day we signed Jonathan," Lloyd said.
That's a lot of phone calls. And yes, I'm sure negotiations typically have a lot of phone calls, but multiple calls each day feels like a lot for a player who was signed to a two-year, $12.4 million deal. Between this and everything else we know about the Wolves' recruiting process, it feels like they treated him like a max-caliber player.
Needless to say, these efforts paid off, though, as Kuminga bypassed more lucrative offers from other teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers, to sign with the Wolves. In doing so, the Wolves filled their last major roster flaw (a true power forward). The Wolves' lack of cap space was a clear hurdle, but their all-out efforts made up for it.
The Timberwolves' all-in efforts helped them sign Kuminga
It's not just speculation that these extreme efforts from the entire organization made a difference for Kuminga. During his introductory press conference, he admitted that his conversations with the organization made joining the Wolves an easy decision.
"Them wanting me to be here, it felt real, and they’re very genuine people, people you can sit down with and have a conversation... Making that decision was very easy after talking to Alonzo (Gee), and Tim (Connelly), and the rest of the guys."
It makes sense for Kuminga to want to go where he feels valued and important. Clearly, the Timberwolves' all-out recruiting effort made him feel this way, and it's something that other interested teams didn't match.
This sense of being valued is particularly true considering his rocky tenure with the Golden State Warriors. Kuminga's agent Aaron Turner, admitted this during an interview with Jon Krawczynski.
“This is your chance to go to a place you can feel believed in,” Turner said he told Kuminga.
Kuminga could be more willing to buy into a complementary role since he feels valued by the Wolves
There's a lot of talk about his stint with the Warriors and, to a lesser extent, the Atlanta Hawks, being a red flag for his fit with the Wolves. Much like the Warriors, Minnesota is hoping that he embraces being a complementary player. This will involve more play-finishing, less self-creation, making better decisions, and more consistent defensive engagement.
Despite some of Kuminga's problems with the Warriors, it's also clear that he didn't feel like the organization believed in him. Kuminga has flaws, but he never should've gotten DNPs from Steve Kerr, especially given the context of the Warriors' roster.
My point is that this message of leaning into a complementary role could resonate with Kuminga if he feels like the organization genuinely believes in him. And if the Wolves can unlock a more complementary version of Kuminga, he'll be a damn good player. In this scenario, it will be hard to find any major flaws with their roster, and they could win the championship.
None of this would have been a possibility without the Timberwolves going all-in to land Kuminga, though, and Lloyd's admission of 94 phone calls is the latest evidence of how much they value him.
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