The Los Angeles Lakers waited two months. Jonathan Kuminga still picked Minnesota. He signed a two-year deal worth about $12.4 million. A player option sits on year two. Shams Charania said L.A. offered more money. The Lakers floated $12 million-plus a year over three years in a Hawks sign-and-trade.
Kuminga wanted next summer free. He wanted a start next to Anthony Edwards. He got both. The purple and gold got an empty power-forward slot.
The payroll now sits $8.1 million from the $209 million first apron. Sixteen players already hold guaranteed deals. That hard-caps the season. Starting-caliber wings are gone. So are most of the draft chips.
Los Angeles Lakers Could Bring Kyle Kuzma Home
Khobi Price shared his backup list, but it might have good options for the Lakers. Sacramento Kings forward De'Andre Hunter and Milwaukee Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma could find their way to Los Angeles. Kuzma won the 2020 title with the franchise. He played in L.A. from 2017 to 2021. He is 31 and on $20.5 million this year, the final one of his four-year, $90 million deal.
Hunter makes $24.9 million on the same kind of expiring money.
"Hunter ($24.9 million) and Kuzma ($20.5 million) are entering the final season of their respective four-year, $90 million deals," Price wrote. "Trading for either would likely require the Lakers to send a combination of Hardy, Knecht or Jarred Vanderbilt, in addition to draft picks."
That is the cost of the Walker Kessler swing. Young center talent ate the war chest. Luka Doncic still needs a two-way four.
Los Angeles Lakers May Need a Big Before Another Wing
Price says the next add, if any, is more likely a center. Kessler and Kevon Looney own the five. Looney signed a veteran minimum. Depth behind them is thin. Jericho Sims in Milwaukee and Jalen Smith in Chicago sit as cheap trade ideas. Dwight Powell is the free-agent name next to Doncic's old Dallas minutes.
The Lakers must cut at least one body before opening night. Training camp is a month away. Most of the major moves are already done. The LeBron James exit opened the summer. This miss closed the fun part.
Rob Pelinka never closed the Hawks triangle. Atlanta would not eat Vanderbilt. Kuminga would not eat a three-year lock. Minnesota used the taxpayer mid-level and a full-court Edwards pitch. The Lakers offered the bigger check and still lost.
A Kuzma reunion would not replace that athletic starter. It would be a known rotation piece on an expiring number. Hunter is the same bet with more defense. Neither move is on the board yet. The Los Angeles Lakers just spent June and July on one wing. August left them shopping leftovers.
The post Los Angeles Lakers Could Reunite With NBA Champ After Jonathan Kuminga Miss originally published on Total Pro Sports.
