Fans have unearthed an old article that does not exactly flatter Jonathan Kuminga’s agent, Aaron Turner.
Kuminga signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday for a modest sum of $13 million over two seasons. The deal was a significant pay cut for Kuminga, who had previously turned down significantly larger offers from the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers.
Several fans pinned the blame on Turner, claiming Kuminga should fire him for what they believed has been poor professional advice.
Turner’s reputation took another hit this past week, as his comments from an October 2025 article resurfaced. In a piece by the San Francisco Standard’s Danny Emerman, the veteran agent defended his negotiating tactics, basically telling his critics to wait a year before casting any judgment.
“This is what’s funny to me,” Turner told Emerman 10 months ago. “Everybody’s like, ‘Aaron f—ed up.’ I’m like, hold on. Did I fumble something? Because fumbling would mean like next year, if JK is making $10 million a year, you could say I fumbled by not taking [three years for $75 million]. You can’t say I fumbled because I didn’t fumble anything yet.
“We made a choice. Now, if I turned down two years, $45million, and two weeks later got two weeks, $40million, I fumbled, right? I went backward. Most people, if you had to negotiate for two more weeks to make a couple million dollars more, wouldn’t you do that? Isn’t that my job?”
Kuminga ended up taking a deal for significantly less than $10 million, which is a clear “fumble” by Turner’s own standards.
In all fairness to Turner, he and his client were in an unusual situation with the Warriors as they negotiated a contract last season. Kuminga opted to bet on himself via a shorter deal with less guaranteed money and lost.
Kuminga and Turner doubled down this season by signing for an even smaller amount with an eye toward a bigger payday next season.
