The Los Angeles Lakers haven't done themselves any favors this offseason, but their latest free agency blunder is almost too much to bear. The Lakers had been trying for weeks to land free agent forward Jonathan Kuminga.
Unfortunately for them, he declined a three-year $18 million offer with L.A. to take a two-year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
BREAKING: Jonathan Kuminga has agreed to a two-year, $13 million deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, plus a player option, agent Aaron Turner tells ESPN. Kuminga will be a starter alongside Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert on the West contender. pic.twitter.com/KdtD6YEy9j
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 26, 2026
That was clearly an upside play for the Timberwolves, with Kuminga being a former top 10 pick in the NBA Draft.
Of course, his signing with the Timberwolves instead of the Lakers is no doubt an embarrassing hit for L.A. After all, they have already had a frustrating free agency thus far.
Missing out on Jonathan Kuminga is the Lakers' latest free agent miss
The Lakers are already dealing with new ownership and the potential fallout of that. Now, one of the top remaining free agents has turned them down to sign a less lucrative deal with a rival.
Kuminga probably wouldn't have moved the needle that much for the Lakers. Nevertheless, it sums up their questionable offseason in a nutshell. First, they traded all of their remaining first-round picks to acquire Walker Kessler, a move that has drawn mixed reactions.
Then they follow that up with several free agents that emphasize offense instead of defense. Now, they have a hodgepodge roster that is mostly offense-oriented with few defensive stoppers. They could be a top-five offensive team next season but maybe a middle-of-the-pack defensive team as a result.
The Lakers are far from a contender next season
It's hard to say that the Lakers got better this offseason. At best, they are slightly worse than they were last year. Even then, the Western Conference has gotten even better.
The San Antonio Spurs are a much better team than they were last season. The Oklahoma City Thunder are the same dominant team, and the Wolves are also expected to be far better.
Even the fringe Western Conference teams such as the Utah Jazz and the Portland Trail Blazers could be much improved, resulting in the Lakers having to face two more competitive teams next season. The best-case scenario is they are a top-six playoff team.
Just good enough to avoid the play-in and possibly getting around having to play the Spurs or OKC in the first round. Even then—Kuminga or not—this team's ceiling is a second-round playoff team. That's better than most but not good enough for the Lakers.
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