Jonathan Kuminga’s Agent On How Anthony Edwards Convinced Him To Join Timberwolves Over Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers failed in their quest to sign Jonathan Kuminga in free agency, with the forward opting to join the Minnesota Timberwolves instead. The Lakers reportedly put a three-year, $36 million deal on the table, but Kuminga agreed to a two-year, $12 million contract with the Timberwolves.

It was an interesting decision, and Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner, revealed to The Athletic how Anthony Edwards helped convince his client to come to Minnesota.

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“Ant was super active in the recruitment of him,” Turner said. “One thing he did was focus his message on, we’re gonna really guard here. Everybody looked at the offensive end. JK and I looked more at the defensive end.”

The Timberwolves were initially offering Kuminga just the $3.6 million veteran minimum salary, and that was too low for even Edwards to do anything. Turner unsurprisingly asked them to free up more money to put up a more appealing offer. So why did they do that now?

Well, the Timberwolves just got a new controlling owner in Marc Stad. Stad told the president of basketball operations, Tim Connelly, to do whatever it took to get up to the $6 million taxpayer mid-level exception.

Once this happened, Edwards got to work. He spoke to Kuminga about how the Timberwolves had no answer for him when they faced the Golden State Warriors in the 2025 playoffs. The 23-year-old had notably averaged 26.3 points over the final three games of that series.

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Speaking of the Warriors, Kuminga infamously wasn’t on great terms with head coach Steve Kerr. Well, Edwards played under Kerr for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics and could relate when he spoke about why things didn’t quite work out in the Bay Area.

“Ant can relate to JK in a way very few, if any, in the world can,” Turner said. “Him saying, ‘I know what you can do’ meant a lot.”

While Edwards got to witness the best of Kuminga as a scorer in the NBA, that wasn’t the role he sold him on. The Timberwolves have some outstanding defenders in Rudy…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jonathan-kuminga-agent-anthony-edwards-164715287.html

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Publish date : 2026-08-28 16:47:00

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