The Milwaukee Bucks have been linked to a few targets this offseason, including restricted free agent Peyton Watson, who landed in Cleveland last week via a sign-and-trade. Bennedict Mathurin is another, but he agreed to a two-year deal with New Orleans on Wednesday. Jonathan Kuminga was the last target still available, but as ESPN's Shams Charania reported, he agreed to sign a two-year, $13 million deal with the Timberwolves.
It was known that it'd come down to Minnesota or LA, as NBA insider Jake Fischer said so on a Bleacher Report livestream on Tuesday:
"Comes down to Minnesota or Los Angeles. Kuminga, I think, has seemed to prefer going to the Lakers."
Based on that, it was clear Kuminga was drawn to an opportunity where he could contribute to a contender, a category that the Bucks are no longer in. Milwaukee already wasn't a top free-agent destination, and that's even more true now that Giannis Antetokounmpo is gone.
The Lakers have always had the upper hand at luring in top talent because of who they are, and in Kuminga's case, the Timberwolves did, too, as he'll get to play alongside Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball. Both LA's and Minnesota's situations are drastically different from Milwaukee's.
And hey, it doesn't seem like the Bucks really wanted Kuminga, anyway, as Fischer made it sound like the only player Milwaukee was truly interested in was Watson.
Bucks couldn't offer Kuminga what Minnesota could
If Kuminga, who is 23, wanted to grow alongside a younger team building a new culture in their post-Giannis era and first season under head coach Taylor Jenkins, the Bucks would've been the team for him. You can say he would've had a higher chance of putting up the kind of numbers he believes he can in Milwaukee.
But think about what it will do for his value, which clearly wasn't high, if he can prove he can consistently contribute to winning basketball with the Timberwolves. The keyword there is consistently, as Kuminga never found that in Golden State and wasn't in Atlanta long enough to prove much of anything, though he had some exciting stretches with the Hawks.
In Minnesota, he can step into a starting role (as he could've in LA), improving his chances of becoming the player he believes he can be. Going to the Timberwolves will put more pressure on Kuminga than if he had gone to the Bucks, which isn't ideal given the situation he is already in, but hey, clearly, that doesn't bother him, hence why it came down to Los Angeles or Minnesota.
It sounds like Minnesota had already shut the door on Kuminga, one that might've been just partially open. That's probably for the better, anyway.
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