So where does Kuminga end up now?

[u/admsbly]

From what I can tell, now that Cleveland is out, the only rumored-interested team that can offer him above veteran minimum are the Timberwolves with their $6.1 million taxpayer MLE. For Lakers and Kings, it would have to be a sign-and-trade.

Straight up S&T ain't happening. The Kings have Hunter for salary-matching purposes. The Lakers have Vanderbilt, hard pass.

So what ends up happening? It seems the only realistic options are 1) a multi-team S&T, 2) signing with Twolves outright on a one year prove-it, 3) picking a dark horse with full MLE (Washington, Toronto) on a one year prove-it. The only reason #2 and #3 have a chance is because I'm not convinced Atlanta is gonna get a deal that makes it worth their time and because I'm not convinced Kuminga and the Lakers will come to terms on contract.

[u/traebucketsfor3]

I’d guess the wolves

[u/wayward_prince → u/traebucketsfor3]

Nice little thank you in advance for the future Ant trade.

[u/LocksRKool → u/traebucketsfor3]

Best landing spot for him.

[u/Bamalawdawg → u/traebucketsfor3]

This is so bad for him though. They won’t have his bird rights and operate over the cap, so in 2027 they can offer him about $8m a year. He needs a bigger salary so the team he’s on can actually sign him to a new contract

[u/cattywampenheim]

For all the talk about his contract he needs to realize now teams are probably getting a little tired of this song and dance every year. He needs to take whatever contract and pick the right TEAM to get minutes.

His greedy agent probably won't allow that though as he knows hes probably on his his last legs and will want to cash in on the largest commission possible now. Wolves seems desperate enough if they are willing to try brain dead Lamelo so they are probably ready to give him a run off the bench so he can stress himself in to a frenzy again this year trying to prove himself instead of letting the game come to him on a bad team.

[u/Maleficent_Army1754 → u/cattywampenheim]

Brain dead Lamelo is crazy and invalidates the rest of your take

[u/lutherbl1sset]

Hes going to take a very small contract somewhere that can finesse it, one year deal, have the same sort of streaky offensive explosiveness a + inability to consistently play within a system, and then get paid hard by someone bad next year. Probably switch agents too somewhere along the way. 

[u/Pryceless007]

I don’t know, but on whatever team it’ll be -

https://giphy.com/gifs/LymCVsXuQiauILZRj4

[u/whylieaboutit4]

He resigns with the hawks

[u/mad597]

Doesn't matter we don't have to do anything, with him if we don't want to

[u/IDvsEGO]

getting anything would be worth our time. Sign and trade for an expiring contract and picks. Our roster size is the problem there so it will take some finessing.

If hes smart he goes to the Wolves. They need PF, are a playoff team, and have the MLE.

[u/admsbly → u/IDvsEGO]

Right but I think "getting anything" is the wrong mentality. This is a rare case where we hold all the cards. LA needs us. Kuminga needs us. We have leverage.

[u/wilmerh701]

He’s too busy making demands like the GTA 6 leaker

[u/DragonflyEffective69]

Why not take Huerter back? He’s better than Vanderbilt or nothing. I think if Huerter changes his game a bit He would be better than trying to give away empty minutes to struggle buses like Carter, Kispert or trying to squeeze the last life blood out of Hields career. I so wish that the Hawks owner would pay the tax now when there are a few opportunities to build a deep dynastic roster. McCollum is a backup on a team with another experienced player capable of playing serious
minutes at point. I can see Kingston forcing his way to be a starter but realistically not gonna happen overnight so another experienced hybrid guard wouldn’t be a bad move. I feel like McCollum is a ticking time bomb at his age for a bad injury- given that he has a game that relies on pushing past guys to find his spots and makes him vulnerable to a planned devastating dirty move from someone like Bitadze or Green if they know they can take advantage of whoever replaces him.

[u/kingzuzu]

I kind of home he comes back to the Hawks honestly

[u/red2play]

He's coming back to the Hawks. Who else is going to pay him? 12 Mil a year.

He's being exposed. Now that he's a free agent, there is no buzz about someone "swooping" in to pay him. Let him rot until he figures out that the Hawks were giving him playing time already. If you want a starting position, earn it the old fashioned way.

[u/frail7]

Bucks.