- 2 months ago
Willard and Dibs react to the news that Jonathan Kuminga has signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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00:0095.7 The Game. Breaking News.
00:08Jonathan Kaminga.
00:10All roads.
00:12Has signed with...
00:15The Lakers.
00:17The Clippers.
00:21A team in Europe?
00:24The Minnesota Timberwolves.
00:27It is a two-year, $13 million deal with the Wolves,
00:34and it includes a player option for the second year.
00:41Wow.
00:41And as Shams points out, or Shams,
00:45it was negotiated by agent Aaron Turner.
00:51Mop, mop.
00:53Your fave.
00:54I mean...
00:55Your boy.
00:55I don't really know him,
00:56and I've never interacted with him.
00:59All I was saying yesterday is
01:00he has not gotten his client a lot of money.
01:05He hasn't gotten him a schmidt ton of cash,
01:08and so you get a two-year, $13 million deal
01:11with an option for basically, I guess,
01:13six and a half in year two,
01:15and if you're Kaminga,
01:16you are hoping against hope
01:19that you don't have to opt into that.
01:21I agree with you there.
01:22What's really actually interesting about this breaking news from Shams
01:26is not, to me, the money or the team.
01:30It is the second sentence in his tweet.
01:33Kaminga will be a starter
01:37alongside Anthony Edwards,
01:40LaMelo Ball,
01:41Jaden McDaniels,
01:42and Rudy Gobert.
01:43I don't know that I can remember, quite frankly,
01:47when free agents sign.
01:49I don't know if I can remember
01:50the tweet ever finishing that way.
01:53So-and-so has signed with a
01:55blah-blah-blah-blah-blah contract.
01:58Oh, by the way,
01:59he'll be a starter,
01:59and here's the rest of the lineup.
02:01On August 26th,
02:03we're getting the starting lineup for the Wolves.
02:05Do we need to make a tunnel and play some music?
02:08Edwards, Ball, Gobert,
02:11and you said McDaniels?
02:13Jaden McDaniels.
02:13And Kaminga.
02:14They're saying Kaminga will be the starting small forward
02:17for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
02:18Okay.
02:19And I wonder if that was like a provision in the deal
02:23or if Aaron Turner's just, you know,
02:25going to Shams and saying,
02:26yeah, he's going to start.
02:28They made assurances that he's going to start.
02:30Well, I mean, I would,
02:31if Shams is doing his job,
02:33he's not going to write that
02:33unless he got that covered from the team as well.
02:37I don't think he's going to write,
02:39here's the starting lineup this year for the Wolves
02:41without asking the Wolves,
02:42but maybe, yeah,
02:45maybe it's in the deal.
02:46I mean.
02:47All right.
02:47I mean, I'm sure it's a starting lineup.
02:49Like the Warriors started,
02:50what, 36 different starting lineups last year?
02:53That's what I'm saying.
02:53Like, I don't know how you can put this in there.
02:55The Wolves could change it in a day,
02:56but I get why it's in there.
02:59That, I mean,
03:00it kind of actually speaks to the triggering
03:04and the wounding of everything
03:06that has surrounded Kaminga throughout his career.
03:09I don't know right now
03:10that money or team
03:13is the most important thing to him.
03:15Wants an opportunity.
03:18Like, he's now been on two teams
03:20and they haven't given him
03:22the minutes that he desires.
03:24Right.
03:25And so that must have been what,
03:28I can only guess,
03:30maybe that's what the holdup was.
03:32What took so long?
03:33I mean,
03:34the numbers were the numbers you knew
03:36that the money was not going to be big.
03:38You just look at the landscape of the league.
03:41But what Jonathan wanted was,
03:44we please play me.
03:46Like, play me.
03:48And so that's fascinating to me
03:51that that's written in the breaking news
03:54that he's signing with the Wolves,
03:55that he will start.
03:56In the tweet.
03:56Yeah.
03:56And I guess you could look at that and say,
03:59all right,
04:00he started for the Warriors
04:01at the beginning of last year
04:02and he started
04:04and then all of a sudden
04:05he was not starting
04:06and he got hurt
04:06and he wasn't really starting again.
04:08So if that was what is important to him,
04:11then good on him.
04:12And he's still such a young player
04:13that I think that if he puts in the work,
04:16he can still have a good, long career.
04:18And honestly,
04:19you look at this deal
04:20and it's a one-year deal
04:22with a player option.
04:22And if you're the player
04:23and you're thinking,
04:24yeah,
04:25I'm going to go out there
04:25and prove it
04:26and show exactly who I am as a player,
04:29well,
04:29then you're not going to pick up that option
04:30for six and a half million.
04:34Kaminga reportedly chose the Wolves
04:36over offers from the Lakers.
04:38Bulls and Blazers
04:40bypassing a similar,
04:42this is straight from Shams,
04:44bypassing a similar starting role
04:47and 12 million plus annually
04:50over three years in LA
04:52to land in Minnesota
04:54for a shorter term deal
04:56and an ability to have
04:58more control of his future.
05:01There is more.
05:02Shams says,
05:03over the last month,
05:04the Wolves persistently recruited Kaminga
05:06offering their best financial tool
05:09in the taxpayer mid-level exception
05:11plus a large on-court opportunity.
05:15Ant was apparently a major part
05:17of what they're calling
05:18a full-court recruiting press
05:21to sign Kaminga
05:22while team president,
05:23Tim Connolly,
05:24traveled to Miami
05:25for a four-hour in-person meeting
05:27with Kaminga earlier this month
05:29along with productive conversations
05:31between Kaminga and head coach
05:34and Stiney's friend,
05:36Chris Finch.
05:37Yeah,
05:37former teammate
05:38or at least former classmate
05:39at Franklin and Marshall.
05:40And so,
05:41yeah,
05:41good.
05:42I mean,
05:42Kaminga goes in there
05:43and hopefully he's able to get
05:44the minutes in the spot
05:46that he really wants
05:47because you feel for the guy.
05:49It was here
05:50and it didn't really work out
05:51for a number of different reasons
05:52and then it felt like
05:54he got to go to Atlanta
05:55and like it's a new lease on life
05:57and then it was for about a week or two
06:00and then back to the bench
06:01and a couple of good playoff games
06:03and then no option picked up
06:05and he's just been kind of languishing
06:06on the open market.
06:07This is a fascinating series of tweets.
06:10You ever seen Shams
06:12do like three or four paragraphs
06:14on somebody signing for the mid-level?
06:17No,
06:17not in late August
06:18and I've never seen a tweet of like
06:21and he's going to start
06:22like,
06:23okay,
06:23LeBron James goes to Philly
06:24and he's going to start.
06:26I get that
06:26but Kaminga's going to go there
06:28and he's going to start?
06:30That must come from the agent
06:32and or the team or both?
06:34I don't know.
06:34I don't know where it comes from
06:35but the whole thing,
06:36look,
06:37I'm happy for Jonathan.
06:38I think that's a good basketball team
06:40potentially at least.
06:41They've got some changes
06:42that they're undergoing,
06:44no doubt
06:44but it's a good basketball team
06:46if he's going to get 25 minutes a night
06:48let's see what he can do.
06:50I'm honestly,
06:51I'm excited to see that.
06:52This series of tweets though
06:54suggests to me
06:56that whoever it is
06:58that's feeding Shams the information
07:00really wants to get this idea out there
07:03that Jonathan was very wanted.
07:07I wonder who that would be.
07:08Well, look,
07:09I have a guess
07:10but I get it.
07:11I get it.
07:12The length of time that this took
07:14made it feel to the world
07:16like nobody likes Jonathan.
07:19Nobody wants Jonathan
07:20and I don't really wrap up
07:23the financial totals here
07:25and then translate that
07:27as nobody cared
07:28about Jonathan Kaminga.
07:30I just think the landscape
07:32of the league
07:33and free agency
07:34has really,
07:34really changed.
07:35You know,
07:36look at what the Warriors did.
07:37Like there's just,
07:38there's not a lot of teams
07:40right now
07:40that are out there
07:41with cap space
07:42handing out big deals.
07:44One minute
07:45the Atlanta Hawks
07:46can't stop gushing
07:47over Jonathan Kaminga
07:49and then the next minute
07:50they're like,
07:50but we don't want him
07:51at that price.
07:52They just let him go.
07:54We don't want him
07:55at $24 million
07:56which doesn't even feel
07:58like that big
07:59of a contract
08:00when some dudes
08:00are making $50 and $60.
08:02So,
08:03like,
08:04again,
08:05I never translated this
08:06to mean
08:07nobody wants Jonathan.
08:08I had no doubt
08:09that Jonathan
08:10was going to find a team.
08:11I didn't know about
08:11a starting role.
08:13But to have this whole series
08:14of Jonathan signs,
08:16oh, by the way,
08:17he's starting.
08:18Oh, by the way,
08:19he had a bunch of offers
08:20from other teams.
08:21Oh, by the way,
08:22they've been for longer
08:23than this.
08:23Oh, by the way,
08:25the star player wants him.
08:26Oh, by the way,
08:27the team president's
08:28dying for him.
08:28Oh, by the way,
08:29the coach loves him, too.
08:31It's like,
08:31whoa,
08:32whoa,
08:32you're really trying
08:33to paint a picture here,
08:35which is fine.
08:35This can all be true,
08:37but I don't know
08:38that I've,
08:38I don't know
08:39that I've ever seen
08:40it sound like that
08:40or look like that
08:41on Twitter
08:41when somebody signs.
08:42It, to me,
08:43is a lot of
08:45backsell spinning
08:45where you had a guy
08:47who was going to make,
08:48what,
08:48$24 million
08:49in a team option
08:50in Atlanta
08:51and he didn't get
08:52$24 million
08:53and he sat there
08:54and here we are
08:55in late August
08:56and he settles
08:57for two years
08:57and $13 million
08:58and so if you're
08:59the agent
09:00and I don't know
09:00the agent,
09:01I don't pretend
09:01to know the agent
09:02and I'm not saying
09:03that he's the one
09:04who is spitting
09:05all this out
09:05to Shams,
09:06but if I'm that guy
09:07and my client
09:08was standing
09:09to make $24 million
09:10on a team option
09:12and now he's settling
09:13for two years
09:14and $13 million
09:15in totality,
09:16yeah,
09:16I'd be out there
09:17trying to like
09:18spin every last bit
09:20of this
09:20because think about it,
09:21Mark,
09:22if you go back
09:22to the beginning
09:23of the offseason,
09:25Quentin Post
09:25got $10 million
09:26a year.
09:27He did.
09:27Quentin Post
09:28got $10 million
09:29and Kaminga's
09:30getting $6.5 million.
09:31I mean,
09:32look.
09:32I mean,
09:33those are just
09:33financial realities.
09:35They're sacks.
09:35They don't play
09:36the same position.
09:37Seven-footers
09:38who can shoot.
09:39Plus,
09:39I mean,
09:40shoot-ish.
09:41Yeah,
09:41Memphis is nuts
09:42for that team.
09:43Kaminga's way better.
09:44Right.
09:45So,
09:45I don't even know
09:46who Quentin Post's
09:47agent is,
09:48but if I had a choice
09:49between agents,
09:50I'd want Quentin's agent.
09:51Well,
09:51I guess my point is,
09:54I agree with you,
09:55Kaminga is way better
09:56than Quentin Post,
09:57but there are more
09:57Kamingas than there
09:58are Quentin Post's.
09:59I think that's what
10:01drives it.
10:02Seven-footers
10:03who at least
10:04apparently
10:05shoot three-pointers.
10:07You know what I mean?
10:08he shoots them.
10:08He does.
10:09He doesn't make
10:10a ton of them.
10:10They go in
10:11every third one.
10:13He's all right.
10:14They won for three.
10:14He's fine.
10:15Yeah.
10:15He's not like a 40%
10:17three-point shooter
10:18who can also rim protect.
10:19Four stretcher.
10:21Right.
10:21And,
10:21I mean,
10:22Kaminga's got the ha-ha
10:23and he's a 6'7 wing
10:25who's only 24 years old now?
10:27Look,
10:28to me,
10:29there's only really one thing
10:30that's all that interesting.
10:32I don't really,
10:33like,
10:33who cares what Jonathan
10:34is making financially?
10:36I'm not gonna,
10:37I'm not gonna go too deep
10:38into that
10:39in terms of,
10:40well,
10:40this means he's X
10:42or this means he's valued
10:44or he's not valued.
10:46If there are teams
10:47willing to give him
10:48a starting role,
10:49then they value him.
10:51And,
10:51to me,
10:52that's the most important
10:53thing right now.
10:55The most important thing
10:56for Jonathan
10:57is not the money.
10:59He's going to be fine
11:00financially.
11:00He made $24 million
11:02last year.
11:03He's all right.
11:04Even if he had to take
11:05a minimum salary this year,
11:07he's all right.
11:08Jonathan is a 22,
11:0923-year-old man
11:11who does very,
11:12very well
11:13financially.
11:14The whole narrative
11:15has been about
11:17opportunity.
11:18And,
11:19I think that it's been
11:20very well documented
11:21that he and the team
11:23both made mistakes
11:24in the way that they
11:25conducted the whole process.
11:27but the bottom line
11:28is I think Jonathan
11:30has cruised around
11:32for a period of time
11:33in the NBA,
11:34at least at the start,
11:35it was,
11:36I want more of an opportunity.
11:38Then it was,
11:39I deserve more
11:40of an opportunity.
11:41Then I think he reeled
11:42back again into,
11:44I just want an opportunity.
11:45And,
11:45to me,
11:46now he,
11:46apparently he gets it.
11:48So that's great.
11:49I don't know
11:50what took so long.
11:53And maybe all of these teams
11:54were offering starting roles.
11:56That's huge for Jonathan
11:57right now.
11:5825 minutes.
11:59That's,
12:00to me,
12:00that would be my,
12:01my one and only question
12:02if I were Jonathan.
12:03Right.
12:04Do I get 25 minutes?
12:0425 minutes.
12:05I just wonder about
12:06the whole thing about like,
12:08oh,
12:08he's going to be a starter.
12:09He's going to be
12:10a starter on this team.
12:12Does that come from
12:13the team?
12:14Like,
12:14do they call Chris Finch
12:16and say,
12:16hey Finchie,
12:18we want to sign here,
12:19but we want an assurance
12:20that you're going to be
12:21the starter.
12:22And so,
12:22oh yeah,
12:23he's going to be a starter.
12:24Like,
12:24that's not the way
12:25that normally works.
12:26So,
12:27that part of it to me
12:28is really curious.
12:29And so,
12:30you signed for two years
12:31and 13 million
12:32and you signed
12:33in the end of August
12:34and now Minnesota's
12:36going to say,
12:36yeah,
12:36we've been waiting
12:37to sign you
12:38because we want you
12:39to be a starter.
12:40That's not usually
12:41the way this goes.
12:41This is a different,
12:42yeah,
12:42it's a different look.
12:44It's a different look.
12:45It's curious.
12:46At least.
12:48That is a word for it.
12:50I don't,
12:50I don't look at it
12:51as curious
12:51because I think
12:52it's incredibly
12:53transparent.
12:54I think that
12:55for a long time,
12:56unfortunately,
12:57the Jonathan Kaminga
12:58situation has turned
12:59into something
12:59where people are
13:00worried about narratives.
13:02They're worried
13:02about look.
13:03They're worried
13:04about who's right.
13:05They're worried
13:05about who's wrong.
13:06They're trying
13:07to pitch this
13:09whole concept
13:10rather than just
13:13things are what
13:14they are
13:14and go play basketball.
13:16And I get it.
13:16That's not all
13:17on Jonathan.
13:18Some of it is.
13:19But I think
13:20that this to me
13:22rings as very
13:23transparent.
13:24It is August 26th
13:26and he just got
13:28signed and he is
13:29going to make
13:30$18 million
13:31fewer dollars
13:32this year
13:33than he did
13:33last year
13:33and they would
13:35like the world
13:35to know
13:36that Jonathan
13:37is still very
13:38wanted.
13:39And that's okay.
13:40That's fine.
13:42A little bit
13:42of a distraction
13:44I think.
13:45Jonathan's
13:46getting an
13:46opportunity.
13:47That's great.
13:48To me that's
13:48kind of the
13:49that's the start
13:50and the end
13:50of the story
13:51from where I sit.
13:52I get it.
13:53I'm not saying
13:54that the story
13:54has even started.
13:55The fact that
13:56he signed
13:56for two years
13:57and $13 million
13:59should be below
14:00market for what
14:01he thinks
14:01that he should
14:02be and what
14:02his agent
14:03obviously thinks
14:04he should be
14:05and I go back
14:06to was it
14:07last offseason
14:07when he and
14:09the Warriors
14:09were going back
14:10and forth
14:10on what it
14:11was going to be
14:12and you know
14:12what I'm going
14:13to play for
14:13the qualifying
14:14offer.
14:14We're going
14:15to play
14:15for the QO
14:16and then finally
14:17you got to the
14:18point where
14:18you didn't play
14:19for that
14:19and you got
14:20a deal
14:20that was
14:21pretty sweet
14:21but a team
14:22option
14:23and then no
14:23team picked
14:24up that option
14:24this feels
14:25to me
14:26like the spin
14:27zone after
14:28the fact
14:28and whether
14:29or not he
14:29starts
14:29I don't think
14:30he'll start
14:3182 games
14:32for Minnesota
14:32maybe he starts
14:33the opener
14:34but I'm not
14:35buying this
14:35whole notion
14:36of he's
14:37going to be
14:37a starter
14:37listen
14:38I don't buy
14:39it
14:39yeah and
14:40that's fine
14:40I hope he
14:42continues to get
14:42an opportunity
14:43I hope he
14:43puts up
14:44big numbers
14:44yeah me too
14:45I hope he gets
14:45a big contract
14:47somewhere whether
14:48it's next year
14:49or two years
14:49or two more