Cavaliers Should Keep Chasing Jonathan Kuminga After Adding Mario Hezonja

ESPN's Shams Charania reported Sunday that Mario Hezonja had agreed to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers for one year and $2.8 million. ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel posted about two minutes later that the move left the Los Angeles Lakers as the only remaining suitor for Jonathan Kuminga. Cleveland should keep making calls anyway.

Hezonja is 31. He last appeared in an NBA game during the 2019-20 season, with the Portland Trail Blazers. Orlando took him fifth overall in 2015, and he spent five seasons with the Magic, the New York Knicks, and Portland. His NBA career averages are 6.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 330 games. He shot 31.9% from 3-point range in those five seasons.

Real Madrid signed him in 2022. He won a EuroLeague title there. He was named Liga ACB MVP for 2025-26 after a season in which he averaged 17.5 points and 4.9 rebounds.

Dean Wade started 14 of Cleveland's 18 playoff games at small forward last spring. Wade averaged 4.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 22.6 minutes and shot 37.5% from 3-point range. He is 6-foot-9 and was the team's best perimeter defender. He signed with the Philadelphia 76ers this month for four years and $39 million.

Larry Nance Jr. is with the Indiana Pacers now on a one-year, $3.9 million deal. Keon Ellis went to the Brooklyn Nets for two years and $18 million.

That leaves Max Strus as the projected starter at small forward. Strus is 30 and listed at 6-foot-5. A Jones fracture in his left foot cut into his 2025-26 season, and he started four of Cleveland's 18 playoff games. His postseason line was 9.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 26.7 minutes. He shot 40.6% from the field and 35.8% from 3-point range.

Jaylon Tyson is the other option in the building. Tyson is 23, stands 6-foot-6, and is coming off his second season. He played 17 playoff games and shot 23.7% from 3-point range.

Kuminga went seventh overall to the Golden State Warriors in 2021. Golden State won the championship in his rookie season. He averaged 9.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 70 games that year, then 9.9 points and 3.4 rebounds the next.

The 2023-24 season was his best. He averaged 16.1 points on 52.9% shooting.

Injuries and rotation decisions took over from there. He played 47 games in 2024-25 and averaged 15.3 points and 4.6 rebounds. He signed a two-year deal worth up to $46.8 million on Sept. 30, after a restricted free agency that ran past media day with a $7.9 million qualifying offer sitting in front of him.

Kuminga appeared in 20 games for Golden State last season and started 13 of them. His averages were 12.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists. He suffered a bone bruise in his left knee at Dallas on Jan. 22 and never played for the Warriors again.

Golden State traded Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks for Kristaps Porzingis on Feb. 5. He did not debut for Atlanta until after All-Star weekend. He played 16 games with the Hawks and averaged 12.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 22.1 minutes. Atlanta lost to the New York Knicks in the first round. Kuminga shot 5-of-24 from 3-point range in that series.

Atlanta declined his $24.3 million option in June. He has been an unrestricted free agent since, the first time in his career he has reached the open market.

Kuminga wants somewhere between $20 million and $23 million a season. Jake Fischer has reported the number is closer to $25 million. The Lakers have discussed two years and $20 million.

Cleveland is roughly $25.3 million under the first apron and just under $38 million under the second. Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported the Cavaliers can start Kuminga at $6.1 million on the taxpayer mid-level exception, which comes to $12.4 million across two years. Using it hard-caps Cleveland at the second apron. Strus is owed $16 million this season. Dennis Schröder is owed $14.7 million. Both deals expire next summer.

The offer and the ask sit about $15 million apart. Kuminga is still unsigned three and a half weeks into free agency, and Cleveland has been in on him for most of that stretch. Marc Stein and Jake Fischer have reported Atlanta plans to be selective about sign-and-trade returns. A short-term reunion with the Hawks is still on the table.

Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson was Steve Kerr's lead assistant in Golden State for Kuminga's first three seasons. Kuminga's agent, Aaron Turner, is from Northeast Ohio. Kuminga spent part of the 2025 offseason training in Cleveland.

Turner spoke with The Athletic last week.

"Jonathan likes the Cavs, likes (coach) Kenny Atkinson, and (star) Donovan Mitchell likes him," Turner said.

Hezonja is a one-year minimum flier on a 31-year-old. Kuminga would be a two-year bet on a 23-year-old. Cleveland can carry both, and it should try to.

The Cavaliers went 52-30 and were swept by the eventual champion Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals, their first trip to that round since 2018. Donovan Mitchell signed a four-year, $273 million extension this month. Evan Mobley is under contract through 2029-30. Jarrett Allen is signed through 2028-29. Cleveland has one exception left and one hole left on the wing.

Second-round pick Meleek Thomas made the 2026 NBA Summer League First Team. Thomas averaged 27.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in four games in Las Vegas.

Cleveland has 13 guaranteed contracts. James Harden declined a $42.3 million player option on June 29 and is working through a new multiyear deal with the team. Thomas Bryant re-signed for one year and $3.5 million. The 2026-27 trade deadline falls in February.