Anthony Edwards and Jonathan Kuminga often matched up against each other when Kuminga was with the Warriors.
Editor’s Note: Read more NBA coverage from The Athletic here. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its teams.
***
As Jonathan Kuminga mulled over where his basketball journey would take him next, he got a call from Anthony Edwards that put the Minnesota Timberwolves front and center in his mind.
Edwards and Kuminga are kindred basketball spirits, in a way. Two high-flyers who like to put the ball in the basket and delight in breaking down a defender off the dribble with the shot clock winding down. But what really resonated with Kuminga about the conversation, his agent, Aaron Turner, said, was that Edwards didn’t talk about scoring at all.
“Ant was super active in the recruitment of him,” Turner told The Athletic. “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.”
Turner is well aware of the perception surrounding his client. Kuminga spent his first four-and-a-half seasons with the Golden State Warriors, and his relationship with coach Steve Kerr grew contentious before he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in February. Some painted Kuminga as a player more concerned with becoming a featured scorer than with fitting in with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and the championship-chasing Warriors.
Kuminga’s decision to turn down significantly more money from the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers and Chicago Bulls this week in favor of a two-year, $12 million offer from the Timberwolves could help change that view of him as a single-minded player. The deal has a player option for 2027-28, giving Kuminga the flexibility to re-enter the market next summer if bigger deals become available. But Turner said that money did not play a role in Kuminga’s decision this time around.
“We sat at the gym this week, and I asked him, what’s the best basketball situation?” Turner said. “He said Minnesota. Well, nothing else matters. Why would you go anywhere else?”
It wasn’t just Edwards who made an impression on Kuminga. He had dinner in Miami with team president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, who didn’t mince words about what the Wolves could give Kuminga and what they would ask of him as well. Owner Alex Rodriguez connected with him to show him that he would have backing in Minnesota at the highest levels. LaMelo Ball and Jaden McDaniels also reached out, telling him how much they wanted him on the team. And coach Chris Finch had several long conversations with Kuminga about the team’s culture of accountability.
“It was such a solid respect factor from top to bottom,” Turner said.
The Wolves all brought up how Kuminga averaged 20.8 points per game on 54 percent shooting in their 2025 playoff matchup against Golden State. They told him how much they needed his size and athleticism after trading Julius Randle and Naz Reid in the offseason. After the way things ended for Kuminga with the Warriors, and Atlanta’s decision not to exercise his $24 million contract option when the season ended, the love Minnesota showed for Kuminga won him over.
“This is your chance to go to a place you can feel believed in,” Turner said he told Kuminga. “They’re going to encourage you. They’re going to push you, but they’re not going to run away from you.”
Turner has a long relationship with Connelly and Wolves general manager Matt Lloyd. Minnesota started the recruitment with only the $3.6 million veteran minimum salary to offer, but Turner urged Connelly and Lloyd to free up more money to get a real shot at landing Kuminga for their vacant power forward position. When new controlling owner Marc Stad told Connelly that he had the green light to do whatever it took to get up to the $6 million taxpayer mid-level exception, the door opened in earnest, and Edwards kicked it down.
Edwards, the charismatic face of the franchise, has upped his vocal leadership this summer, including when he helped organize a team trip to Paris to work out in Rudy Gobert’s hometown. Edwards played for Kerr at the Paris Olympics, so he could relate to Kuminga when he talked about what didn’t work for him with the Warriors. Edwards referred back to the playoff series often in their conversations, telling Kuminga the Wolves had no answer for him on either end of the floor.
“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.”
***
Jon Krawczynski is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Minnesota Timberwolves, the NBA and the Minnesota Vikings. Jon joined The Athletic after 16 years at The Associated Press, where he covered three Olympics, three NBA Finals, two Ryder Cups and the 2009 NFC Championship Game. You can follow Jon on X @JonKrawczynski.
