What kind of outcome could possibly justify Kuminga's overconfidence?

Although the continuous coverage of LeBron's free agency has been dominating the offseason headlines and annoying everyone, you should be thankful that LeBron is still around this summer. Otherwise, you'd probably be stuck reading about Kuminga and his constant negotiations every day.

Starting around 2024, Kuminga began stirring up drama every offseason, which really troubled Warriors fans, until the trade deadline this year when he was finally sent to the Hawks. After playing half a season with the Hawks, Kuminga is now completely out of a job.

The Hawks declined to pick up Kuminga's team option for next season worth $24.3 million, for the simple reason that they didn't think he was worth that much. After Kuminga became a free agent, the Hawks didn't actively negotiate a new contract with him either. Instead, they traded for Wiggins and Dort from the Thunder as part of their roster upgrades, effectively closing the door on Kuminga's return to Atlanta.

In his half-season stint with the Hawks, Kuminga played a total of 22 games, including 16 regular-season games where he averaged 12.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists, with shooting percentages of 47.6% from the field and 34.6% from three. In the playoffs, he appeared in 6 games, averaging 13.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1 assist, shooting 48.3% from the field and 20.8% from three-point range.

During the regular season, Kuminga's three-point shooting was at an acceptable level, but after receiving more minutes in the playoffs, his three-point shooting completely collapsed. He made only 5 of 24 attempts in six games, including one game where he went 0-for-6. In certain situations, Kuminga can provide some scoring output, but he still lacks good tactical execution and defensive discipline, his off-ball movement is insufficient, and most critically, his three-point shooting is too inconsistent.

Given this context, Kuminga clearly isn't worth a $24.3 million contract, so the Hawks declined his team option. His actual market value is probably around $10 million, but anyone familiar with Kuminga knows he has never been realistic about his own worth—in other words, he is overconfident.

When he was with the Warriors, at the end of his third rookie-contract year, he wanted a max extension. The Warriors, of course, weren't foolish enough to offer him that. After his rookie contract expired last year, Golden State gave him a formal offer of $75 million over three years, which Kuminga again rejected. The two sides eventually went back and forth for three months, and Kuminga ended up signing a two-year, $48.5 million deal with a team option for the second year.

This offseason, rumors frequently linked Kuminga to the Lakers, but the Lakers were more interested in a sign-and-trade involving Vanderbilt, and they didn't want to give up any draft picks. The Hawks told them to go elsewhere. Moreover, the Lakers offered Kuminga a contract worth about $20 million over two years, while Kuminga wanted an annual salary of $20 million. The gap in expectations was too large, so that path is also basically blocked.

It's a miracle that Kuminga's agent, Aaron Turner, is still working in this business. Early on, he cost Oladipo two big contracts, effectively ending Oladipo's career prematurely. With Kuminga, he missed two opportunities to extend with the Warriors, and now in 2026, he's still asking for an exorbitant amount.

This agent is a pure gambler at heart—he sets a high price, refuses to budge, and goes head-to-head with teams, hoping they'll give in. His aggressive negotiation tactics have resulted in total losses every time. When he was trying to hype up Kuminga online, he even edited training footage to make Kuminga's shooting motion look smoother, but when that was discovered, his credibility took a major hit.

As time goes on and LeBron makes his decision, free agency signings will inevitably accelerate. Once players like Mathurin and Watson find their teams, the number of franchises willing to offer Kuminga a contract worth over $10 million will only shrink. Besides, Kuminga isn't even that hot of a commodity—where does he get the confidence to ask for $20 million a year?

Kuminga needs to realize that his NBA career is flashing warning signs. Being let go by two consecutive teams is not a good omen. His primary goal now should be to find a team that suits his playing style, rebuild his value, and stop thinking about a big contract.

Of course, before that, he should probably fire his agent first.