The Lakers have one roster spot left, and Jonathan Kuminga is the player they want to fill it.
The Los Angeles Lakers spent this offseason tearing down most of a 53-29 team and rebuilding it around two players instead of three.
Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are the only holdovers from the group that beat Houston in the first round before getting swept by Oklahoma City in the second, and nearly everyone else has either moved on or, like LeBron James, is still stuck in free agency.
Rob Pelinka traded for Walker Kessler, sent Deandre Ayton to Washington, and signed a group of role players that pushed the roster to fourteen players.
One spot remains, and the front office is not treating it as an afterthought.
Why the Spot Is Open
Rui Hachimura signed a two-year deal with the crosstown Clippers instead of staying in Los Angeles, and his exit left the Lakers without the long, athletic forward who filled their power forward spot most of the season.
ESPN's Dave McMenamin laid out just how seriously the front office is treating that opening, speaking on Wednesday's edition of NBA Today.
"There's one empty roster spot remaining. They view this final spot as a very important piece to their potential puzzle. They're trying to pitch opportunity. You will come here, you'll play on the biggest stage in basketball and you may have to take a pay cut for a year or two but you can get back into the big dollars," McMenamin said.
The Kuminga Pitch
That pitch has a name behind it. Jonathan Kuminga is a free agent for the first time in his career after Atlanta declined his $24.3 million option, and the Lakers have reportedly become the favorite to land him.
Kuminga split last season between Golden State and Atlanta, averaging 12.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists across 36 games, and helped the Hawks reach the playoffs at 46-36 before a first-round exit.
He is only 23, was drafted seventh overall back in 2021, and already has a championship ring from his rookie year with the Warriors, which is why teams keep circling him even after two uneven stops in one season.
A Fit Worth the Risk
Los Angeles does not have real cap room to offer, so any deal likely runs through a sign-and-trade sending Jarred Vanderbilt and their only movable first-round swap back to Atlanta this summer.
Kuminga is long, finishes above the rim in transition, and can guard multiple positions, the exact type of player the Lakers lost when Hachimura left for the Clippers.
Playing next to a passer like Doncic, who led the league in scoring last season, and a shot creator like Reaves, who just locked in his own four-year extension, should hand Kuminga cleaner, easier looks than he ever found trying to create offense on his own.
The Lakers are betting a short-term pay cut now turns into the long-term payday Malik Monk cashed in on a few years later, and it is the last real bet they have left to make this summer.
