Why Draymond Believes Jonathan Kuminga's Agent Is Doing Client A ‘disservice'

Why Draymond believes Jonathan Kuminga's agent is doing client a ‘disservice' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Jonathan Kuminga passed on the Warriors’ reported $75 million offer to bet on himself, then took a discounted rate this offseason to sign with the Minnesota Timberwolves on a two-years, $12.4 million contract.

Many around the NBA considered the decision questionable, with some sites even ranking it among the worst “bag fumbles” of the last 15 years.

While Kuminga’s former Golden State teammate Draymond Green never called it that, however, he did direct some criticism toward the 23-year-old’s agent, Aaron Turner, after his recent comments on the “The Kevin O’Connor Show” about the forward being the “best player” on the Hawks following his trade to Atlanta mid-season.

“Today more than ever, agents, players, everybody, you’re under the biggest microscope you’ve ever been under,” Green said on “The Draymond Green Show.” “In part due to social media, in part due to podcasts, there’s a medium everywhere for you to speak. And so, in turn, there’s more accessibility to everybody to quotes talk. So there’s that and because you have that, one of the strongest opinions in our game, in our business, is public opinion. And so in dealing with this these things, you have to understand public opinion at times can dominate the actual sport we love, the business we love. …

“And so when I look at that quote, as you all know, I am the biggest Jonathan Kuminga fan there is. That’s my young fella. I love him. I love to see him do well. I’m rooting for him to do well. You know, I like all of that. That will never change. But what I also do know is public opinion doesn’t believe this. And because public opinion does not stand on that same side of the street, you’re going to get destroyed by public opinion.”

Green additionally explained why he didn’t like Turner discussing Kuminga’s “pockets” and said the agent was deflecting to defend himself, rather than focusing on his client’s best interest.

“You trying to get the people off your back,” Green said. “You do that by going and get great deals. Just go do that. Put the focus on that. Go and get a great deal. Not fighting off because you’re fighting this off so that the next potential clients see it and you’re explaining it. This ain’t really about JK. It’s about the next potential client. That’s the problem in this is you ain’t explaining that for JK’s sake. …

“That ain’t cool at all. That’s very self-serving. Let me look out for myself for my next client so he know what happened. I’m speaking to them.”

Kuminga, who also reportedly passed on a three-year deal worth $12 million annually with the Los Angeles Lakers, opted for a Wolves deal that comes with a player option at the end of the 2026-27 NBA season where he’ll, once again, bet on himself.

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