Jonathan Kuminga has found his third team in seven months. The 23-year-old forward agreed to a two-year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night, according to ESPN, capping a turbulent offseason that began with a restricted free agency standoff in Golden State and ended in a locker room across the country.

ESPN reported the deal at roughly $12.4 million over two years with a player option for 2027-28, while Hoops Rumors put the figure closer to $13 million — either way, a modest, prove-it price tag for a former No. 7 overall pick. Minnesota used its taxpayer mid-level exception to get it done.

The bigger story is what Kuminga walked away from. CBS Sports reported he passed on a Los Angeles Lakers sign-and-trade offer worth more than $12 million annually over three years, betting instead on a short-term deal that lets him re-enter free agency next summer when more teams have cap room.

Edwards made the pitch

Per Hoops Rumors, Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards played a direct role in recruiting Kuminga, and team president Tim Connelly reportedly flew to Miami for a four-hour, in-person meeting to close the deal. The payoff for Kuminga: an immediate starting job at power forward next to Edwards, new point guard LaMelo Ball, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert.

Kuminga chose the shorter, cheaper Minnesota deal over a more lucrative Lakers offer — a bet on himself to cash in next summer.

It's been a whiplash year for Kuminga. He signed a two-year, $48.5 million deal with Golden State last offseason after a prolonged restricted free agency fight, only to be shipped to Atlanta in February in the trade that brought Kristaps Porziņģis to the Warriors. His run with the Hawks was brief and unremarkable — Hoops Rumors listed his line there at 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds over 16 games — and Atlanta declined his $24.3 million team option this summer, setting up Wednesday's move.

Minnesota's front office still has paperwork to finish. To fit Kuminga's salary beneath the league's second luxury-tax apron, the Timberwolves are expected to waive and stretch forward Josh Green's contract before Saturday's roster deadline, a move both ESPN and Hoops Rumors flagged as the mechanism that makes the math work.

The signing lands weeks after Minnesota's headline-grabbing trade for Ball, giving the Timberwolves a retooled core heading into training camp. Whether a change of scenery and a clean slate at power forward finally unlocks the two-way potential scouts saw in Kuminga out of high school is now Minnesota's bet to make.