The Wolves know who they are (this might not be a good thing)

Jonathan Kuminga heads to Minnesota to replace Naz Reid, in a way. Meanwhile, Bennedict Mathurin achieved new innovations in breaking restricted free agency.

Good morning. It's a bloggy Thursday. Let's basketball.

The Minnesota Timberwolves continued their bizarre offseason by winning the Jonathan Kuminga sweepstakes with a two-year, $12.4 million deal. Kuminga could have received double the salary through an offer from the Lakers, but would have been locked in for an additional season: he has a player option on 2027-28 on this deal. The theory is that you take a small deal with a big role now, and capitalize next summer in free agency.

Unfortunately for Kuminga, that was also the theory last summer when he took a two-year, $48.5 million deal from the Warriors with a team option on the second season. That team option was dead on arrival for Golden State or whoever had Kuminga when the music stopped, which wasn't necessary bad news for Kuminga: he'd get a good payday for one season and another quick bite at the apple for a long-term deal. Alas, the Hawks declined that option and expressed no interest in bringing him back. The sought-after long-term deal became essentially a 1-year deal. Again.