The Lakers have raised their offer to Jonathan Kuminga to an average annual salary around $10 million, but they still are not close to a deal with the 23-year-old forward. As of Wednesday afternoon, the two sides remained far apart on what it would take to bring him to L.A.
That gap is why the market has narrowed around him. Kuminga met with Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick the day after the Hawks declined his $24.3 million team option on June 29, and the Lakers have kept pushing even as their cap room keeps shrinking. They entered the offseason with around $52 million in salary cap space, then used it quickly on July 2 with deals for Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Sexton. After that came the trade of Deandre Ayton to the Wizards for Jaden Hardy and two second-round picks, which opened about $2.1 million more, and then a one-year deal for Kevon Looney that counts $2.49 million against the cap.
That leaves Los Angeles with one open roster spot and little financial flexibility, even though it views Kuminga as a high-level starting wing who would fit the roster rebuild around Luka Doncic. The Lakers also re-signed Austin Reaves to a four-year, $185 million deal, and their broader summer plan has already taken shape around adding size, shot creation and one more wing presence. Kuminga is the last big swing in that picture, and the price they are willing to pay still looks closer to a useful rotation salary than the kind of money that usually settles a starting role.
That is where the friction sits. To sign Kuminga outright at a salary starting around $10 million, the Lakers would have to shed over $20 million from their 2026-27 roster. That kind of move would require them to clear real money, not just shuffle the edges, and it comes while they are trying to preserve the rest of the roster around Doncic. The Lakers and Kuminga also know that a sign-and-trade with the Hawks remains the main path that could lift his salary above what Los Angeles can offer him as an unrestricted free agent.
So the next step is not mystery, just arithmetic and cooperation. If the Lakers cannot create the cap space by moving salary, they will need another team to help structure a sign-and-trade that gives Kuminga more than their current offer. Until then, Los Angeles is still pursuing him, Kuminga is still available, and the distance between the sides remains the story.
