Draymond Green Warns Jonathan Kuminga $6.5 Million Salary Could Cost Starting Role

Jonathan Kuminga signed with the Timberwolves for half the salary he was receiving from the Los Angeles Lakers.

Draymond Green Warns Jonathan Kuminga $6.5 Million Salary Could Cost Starting Role

Jonathan Kuminga and Draymond Green (Image via RTNBA/X)

If anyone knows the true worth of Jonathan Kuminga, it has to be the likes of Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors, with whom he spent the first four-and-a-half years of his career.

The team, and particularly head coach Steve Kerr, were accused of marginalising a player who was supposed to be their future franchise cornerstone. Instead, he was first traded away to the Atlanta Hawks, where it seemed as if he was enjoying a resurgence.

But that effort was not enough for the franchise, and they declined the $24.3 million team option for the DR Congo native. As a free agent, the Los Angeles Lakers were the most notable suitors.

However, the 23-year-old felt that he was better off with the Minnesota Timberwolves and signed a two-year, $13 million deal. That was half of what the Lakers offered, which is what led Draymond Green to say this on his namesake show.

Now here’s where those things get dicey. When you go to a team on a lower-level salary… and all of a sudden that starting lineup isn’t getting off to great starts, the analytics say this group isn’t working that well together. A 6.5 million dollar salary in the NBA is a bench-role salary… My only worry for J.K. is that if it’s not working, you’re the first plug that gets pulled.

Draymond Green said

The four-time champion used the Deshaun Watson-Cleveland Browns situation to explain why salaries dictate whether a player gets a job. In Jonathan Kuminga’s case, Green is worried that his low salary will be the first to be used in a trade if the experiment does not work out.

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Jonathan Kuminga ‘hustling backwards’ leads analyst to question player

Green has a point, since such low-salary deals are considered hot property when it comes to dealing trade assets. Not only will Jonathan Kuminga’s $6.5 million salary make him expendable, but he will have to outplay his contract to avoid being canned consistently.

Kuminga is 'betting on himself'
Kuminga is ‘betting on himself’ (Image via NY Post/X)

Kuminga is hustling backwards… He was with the Warriors, and they traded him. Gets to a new team, and they don’t give him the money. Signs a contract with a third team for much less than his original offer… Why are these teams getting rid of him?

Max Kellerman said

This was the former First Take analyst questioning whether there is something fundamentally wrong with the former seventh-overall pick. When the Warriors sidelined and eventually traded him away, the blame was on Steve Kerr.

But after the Hawks declined their team option despite Jonathan Kuminga’s exceptional start to his time there, Kellerman wonders whether the franchise figured out that the forward may not be as good as advertised.

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Another analyst believes Jonathan Kuminga is betting on himself

While others are throwing up the red flag, those who understand the nature of contracts and how they work in this CBA believe that Jonathan Kuminga is actually playing a different game.

He’ll make about $6 million and change… The Lakers were interested in bringing him in via sign-and-trade. And all sign-and-trades have to be at least for three years…. Kuminga didn’t want to be in a 3-year deal. So this is one of those things where, yes, he turned down more money, but he turned down more money understandably… He’s betting on himself.

Brian Windhorst said on the Hoop Collective

The longtime ESPN senior writer and his colleagues agreed that by declining the higher offer from the Los Angeles Lakers, the former G-League Ignite star is setting himself up for a big payday next season, or even the year after.

Of course, he would have to play exceptional basketball to prove that he is worthy of a massive contract. But if he does, he will be able to take advantage of the 2028 offseason where quite a few teams will have significant cap space to fill. Moreover, by then, most of the superstars in the league will be signed to long-term deals, leaving him the chance to pick and choose.

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