Jonathan Kuminga just admitted what Warriors had been telling him for years

Perhaps the penny has dropped for Jonathan Kuminga after the former Golden State Warriors forward was forced into taking an underwhelming two-year, $12.4 million deal from the Minnesota Timberwolves in free agency last week.

The Warriors and Kuminga were never fully aligned on his future potential across nearly five seasons at the franchise. Steve Kerr wanted the young forward to lean more into the role player aspects and off-ball impact, something Kuminga just admitted will be his focus on a talented Timberwolves squad this season.

Jonathan Kuminga just admitted what Warriors had been telling him

Part of Minnesota's pitch to Kuminga was a starting role at the vacant power forward, having traded Julius Randle and Naz Reid earlier in the offseason. But with franchise superstar Anthony Edwards, the notable acquisition of LaMelo Ball, and potential offensive improvement from Jaden McDaniels, Kuminga won't necessarily be a primary option.

The 23-year-old doesn't seem to mind at all. In response to a fan on social media claiming LaMelo, Ant and Jaden will get all the shots, Kuminga said, "that's just fine bro you can impact winning doing some else too if you didn't know that."

The irony of this comment won't be lost on any Golden State fans or those within the franchise who had hoped to develop Kuminga into a versatile two-way forward in the mould of Shawn Marion or Aaron Gordon.

Kuminga was instead usually at his best with the ball in his hands as a primary option. There was no greater example of that than in the second-round of the 2025 playoffs against the Timberwolves, having averaged 24.3 points on over 55% shooting from the floor in the final four games following Stephen Curry's hamstring injury.

That undoubtedly played a pivotal role in the Timberwolves' interest this summer, with Edwards confirming that his team had no answer for the former seventh overall pick on both ends of the floor during that series.

Kuminga must back up his words with on-court action

That's not the role Minnesota will be asking of Kuminga now though, leaving him under some pressure to back up his social media statement with on-court impact for a team looking to return to the Western Conference Finals.

In fairness, Kuminga did play well and have impact in a more off-ball role early last season, but that only lasted a fortnight before Kerr removed him from the starting lineup and eventually the rotation. He also played reasonably well for the Atlanta Hawks following February's departure from Golden State, yet they still chose to turn down his $24.3 million team option for this season.

His agent, Aaron Turner, making more media appearances also doesn't help matters, and only increases the fascination and intrigue on what Kuminga can produce for the Timberwolves.

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