Rob Pelinka will not put the phone down. The Lakers general manager has been calling Jonathan Kuminga’s camp for weeks, and every insider in the league seems to know about it. The Lakers want the athletic 23-year-old wing. The problem is the money math does not work, and nobody around Los Angeles wants to admit it.
Here is where things stand. The Lakers reportedly offered two years and $20 million total. Kuminga’s camp wants at least the mid-level exception of $15 million per season, and probably more. That gap is not a gap. That is a canyon.
On paper, the fit makes sense. The Lakers need young athleticism on the wing, they need a defender who can guard multiple positions, and they need someone who can attack a closeout without needing a play called for him. Kuminga checks those boxes when he is dialed in. The Luka Doncic and LeBron James pick-and-roll era in Los Angeles could use a slasher who runs the floor and finishes above the rim.
The math is the killer. The Lakers have 16 guaranteed contracts and need to shed one before the season starts. They tried to fold Jared Vanderbilt into a trade proposal and the Hawks laughed them off, partly because it puts Atlanta into the tax and partly because Vanderbilt’s $13.3 million for 2027-28 is not a contract anyone wants to inherit.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers and Timberwolves are also in the mix, and both of them have cleaner assets to move. Cleveland has draft picks the Lakers do not. Minnesota has a young player pool the Lakers cannot match after years of trading first-rounders for veterans. Los Angeles is bringing a knife to a gunfight.
Pelinka’s persistence is admirable, but it is also a warning sign. When a GM keeps calling and keeps getting told the same thing, the story that leaks out is not “the Lakers are close.” The story is “the Lakers are stuck,” and every other team in the league starts to smell it.
Kuminga’s own leverage is limited, which is the twist. His representation floated $30 million-per-year comps in July. The market ignored it. He is looking at a scenario where he either takes a smaller deal, signs the qualifying offer, or gets funneled into a sign-and-trade that lands him in a spot none of the parties really love.
The Lakers might still get him. If Kuminga’s asking price crashes into the mid-teens by late September, and if Atlanta gets desperate enough to eat Vanderbilt for a pick, the framework exists. But every week that passes without a deal makes Cleveland and Minnesota look more likely, because those teams do not have to move heaven and earth to make the salaries work.
The Lakers keep operating like a team that thinks its brand is enough. It is not. Kuminga’s decision, whenever it comes, will be driven by dollars and role, not by the purple and gold. Pelinka is chasing an asset his front office does not have the resources to acquire.
Sometimes the best move is admitting you cannot make the move. Los Angeles is not there yet, but they should be soon.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
