The NBA offseason is buzzing, even with LeBron James’ next move holding a bunch of business hostage. But while everyone waits on the King, other teams are making moves, or at least trying to. Turns out, the Lakers and Hawks are nowhere close to a deal for Jonathan Kuminga, which is a wild start to the summer.
Lakers and Hawks: Worlds Apart on Kuminga
Laker fans have been talking themselves into Kuminga being a “difference-maker,” kind of like they did with Deandre Ayton just last year, despite all the red flags. Well, those fans might be out of luck because momentum has completely stalled on this one. Dan Woike at The Athletic reported that the sides are “far apart on terms” and L.A. isn’t exactly “overly motivated to push significant draft capital.” Seriously? This guy is supposedly the “biggest upside play left” on the table, and yet the Lakers don’t wanna go all in? That’s a head-scratcher. Cleveland, by the way, is the team most often connected to Kuminga if you’re not the Lakers.
Here’s the kicker: Atlanta apparently wanted the Lakers’ 2032 first-round pick swap, which is literally the *only* first-round pick the Lakers can even trade right now. And L.A. said no way, which, honestly, they probably shouldn’t have put that on the table anyway. Then there’s Kuminga’s contract. He’s rumored to want around $25 million a season, but the Lakers reportedly countered with a measly two years, $20 million total. Talk about low-balling! What’s even crazier is the Lakers have already filled all their roster spots, so they’d need to clear a spot just to get anyone, like that rumored interest in Matisse Thybulle. This Kuminga saga is far from over if his market stays quiet, but right now, it’s a mess.
Detroit’s Jalen Duren Problem Is Getting Uglier
Forget LeBron for a second, because the best free agent still out there is technically Pistons All-NBA center Jalen Duren. He’s a restricted free agent, and the Pistons have “zero interest” in trading Cade Cunningham’s running partner in a sign-and-trade. Not like it matters, because no other team even has the money to throw a max offer at Duren, and Detroit would just match it anyway. So, it’s all on the Pistons and Duren to figure it out.
Marc Stein reported that they’ve only made “modest progress” on a deal. Modest! After bringing in John Collins, Isaiah Joe, and Gary Harris this offseason, you’d think they’d have Duren locked up. Their two main goals for the summer were to get a high-level secondary shot creator to play next to Cunningham *and* re-sign Duren. They’ve struck out on both. It’s not been a great offseason in the Motor City, plain and simple.
The Pelicans’ Head-Scratching Strategy and Trey Murphy’s Unreachable Price Tag
My pick for the “most perplexing offseason” has to be the New Orleans Pelicans. They changed coaches to Jamahl Mosley but, beyond that, they’re essentially rolling back a 26-win team and expecting different results. What are they thinking? A bunch of teams have shown interest in trading for two-way wing Trey Murphy, but his asking price has been so incredibly high that no deal has gone down. You gotta wonder if that’ll change once all the teams that strike out on LeBron start scrambling for their next big move. Here’s hoping, because this current plan feels like a setup for more disappointment. The NBA offseason never sleeps, and these teams better wake up!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
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