Jonathan Kuminga, cap sheets and the last week of NBA roster moves
A source-linked read on the week’s NBA agreements, completed moves, salary mechanisms and the roster signals still waiting on paperwork.
The seven-day window here is Aug. 24–31, 2026. The week’s largest roster question is also the one with the most paperwork attached: Jonathan Kuminga chose Minnesota, but the Timberwolves still had to clear second-apron room before the agreement could be finalized. Around that move, several teams finished smaller cap and roster maneuvers, while Bennedict Mathurin, Jordan Hawkins and Stephen Curry remained in watch-only territory.
The board at a glance
| Player or lane | Status | Verified development | Contract, cap or roster mechanism | Next signal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Kuminga, Timberwolves | Conditional agreement | Two-year deal with a second-season player option; reported total differs between $12.4 million at ESPN and $13 million at NBA.com and Hoops Rumors. 12 | Minnesota offered the taxpayer midlevel exception and a starting power-forward role. The reported $6.1 million salary still sat above the Timberwolves’ second-apron room. 3 | Formal completion and Minnesota’s 14th-player accounting. |
| Josh Green / Cody Williams / John Konchar | Closed | Utah traded Green and cash to Minnesota for Williams and Konchar; Minnesota then waived Konchar. 45 | Green’s expiring $14.68 million salary gave Minnesota a way to replace a large contract with Williams at $6.02 million and Konchar at $6.17 million before the waiver. Hoops Rumors expects a three-year stretch treatment for Konchar at about $2.06 million per season. 5 | Whether the remaining salary work completes Kuminga’s signing. |
| Bennedict Mathurin, Pelicans | Conditional agreement | Two-year, $16 million deal with a player option. The Clippers withdrew Mathurin’s $8.8 million qualifying offer, making him unrestricted. 67 | New Orleans would have 16 players on standard contracts after the signing and must clear a spot. The Pelicans have explored trading Jordan Hawkins and could waive and stretch his $7 million expiring contract. 7 | Mathurin’s formal paperwork and the Hawkins decision. |
| Nick Richards, Heat | Closed | Miami officially signed Richards to a one-year contract. The salary remains non-guaranteed until the regular season. 8 | The veteran-minimum deal carries a $2.45 million cap hit, leaving roughly $2.57 million below the first apron. Richards is positioned for standard roster slot 14. 8 | Miami’s 15th-man choice and the final guarantee date. |
| Georges Niang / Brandon Williams, Warriors | Closed agreements | Golden State added Niang on a reported one-year, $3.9 million deal and Williams on a reported one-year, $2.6 million deal. 9 | Niang adds a veteran shooter after missing 2025-26 with injury; Williams gives Golden State a guard who averaged 13 points and 3.9 assists for Dallas. 9 | Camp rotation and guarantee decisions. |
| Dalen Terry, Warriors | Camp deal | Terry joined Golden State on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract. 10 | The deal gives Terry a camp route without adding a guaranteed regular-season salary. Golden State was carrying 18 players against a 21-player preseason limit. 10 | Whether Terry can beat out Brandon Williams for a roster place. |
| Cam Whitmore, Cavaliers | Closed waiver | Cleveland waived Whitmore eight days after acquiring him in the five-team Peyton Watson trade. 11 | Whitmore’s $5.458 million salary is a likely stretch candidate, which would reduce the 2026-27 cap hit to about $1.819 million if Cleveland uses the provision. 11 | Waiver clearance and Cleveland’s final hard-cap structure. |
| Julian Reese, Nuggets | Closed waiver | Denver waived Reese after receiving him as a two-way player in the Watson trade. 12 | The move opens one Denver two-way slot. Two-way contracts do not count against the salary cap. 12 | Denver’s replacement for the open two-way slot. |
| Donte DiVincenzo, Timberwolves | Trade denial / monitoring | Brian Windhorst reported that Minnesota has no plan to trade DiVincenzo and quietly hopes he can return late in the season after an Achilles tear. 13 | DiVincenzo is owed $12.35 million in 2026-27, the final season of his contract. His health, rather than a trade market, is the current roster variable. 13 | Medical timeline and any change in Minnesota’s stated plan. |
| Stephen Curry, Warriors | Contract watch | Curry became eligible Aug. 29 for a possible two-year, $136.7 million extension through June 30. No agreement was reported in the cited update. 14 | Bobby Marks projected $45 million–$60 million in Golden State cap space next offseason if Curry signs at the maximum first-year extension salary of $65.7 million. 14 | Curry’s decision and the Warriors’ 2027 free-agent planning. |
The board separates an agreement reported by insiders from a completed transaction. That distinction matters this week because Minnesota and New Orleans both still needed a salary or roster move after reaching terms with a player.
Closed lanes
Minnesota swapped the contract before it added the player
The Timberwolves completed the trade that had been discussed as part of the Kuminga solution. Utah received Josh Green and cash; Minnesota received Cody Williams and John Konchar. Minnesota waived Konchar later the same day. 45
The transaction changed the size of Minnesota’s expiring salary. Green’s $14.68 million contract left for Utah, while Williams carried $6.02 million and Konchar carried $6.17 million before his release. Hoops Rumors reported that Minnesota was expected to stretch Konchar’s charge over three seasons at roughly $2.06 million annually. 5
The trade also gave Williams a clearer route into the Wolves’ rotation. The 2024 No. 10 pick averaged 8.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 24.3 minutes for Utah last season, while Green moves to a Jazz team that can absorb the larger expiring contract. 4
Miami filled its 14th standard slot
Miami made Nick Richards’ move official after reaching terms with the free-agent center. The one-year contract stays non-guaranteed until the regular season, which leaves the Heat a decision point instead of a locked long-term commitment. 8
Richards’ reported $2.45 million cap hit leaves Miami roughly $2.57 million below the first-apron hard cap. The number is enough room for a 15th standard-contract player if the Heat choose to carry one. 8
Golden State added competition around the guaranteed core
The Warriors added two experienced one-year pieces. Georges Niang’s reported $3.9 million deal brings a career 40% three-point shooter back after an injury-shortened 2025-26 season. Brandon Williams’ reported $2.6 million deal brings a guard who averaged 13 points and 3.9 assists for Dallas. 9
Dalen Terry joined them on a different type of contract: a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 camp deal. Hoops Rumors reported that Golden State had 12 players on fully guaranteed salaries and 18 players under contract after Terry’s arrival. Niang and Charles Bassey carried partial guarantees, while Williams’ minimum salary would become partially guaranteed on opening night. 10
Cleveland and Denver cleared two-way and salary spots
Cleveland waived Cam Whitmore after acquiring him in the five-team Watson trade. Whitmore’s $5.458 million final-year rookie-scale salary is the likely subject of a stretch decision; a three-season spread would reduce the 2026-27 charge to about $1.819 million. 11
Denver also released Julian Reese, the two-way forward it had received in the same trade. Reese’s release opens a two-way slot because that contract type sits outside the salary cap. 12
Conditional agreements and the cap work behind them
Minnesota: Kuminga has the starting role, Green supplied the escape route
Jonathan Kuminga agreed to join Minnesota on a two-year contract with a player option for the second season. ESPN reported $12.4 million; NBA.com and Hoops Rumors reported $13 million. The sources agree on the length, option structure and starting power-forward role, so the dollar figure remains a reported range until the contract is filed. 123
The fit is straightforward on paper. Minnesota recruited Kuminga to fill the vacant starting power-forward spot next to Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert. Hoops Rumors’ account of Kelly Iko’s fit analysis points to Kuminga’s finishing, cutting and defensive versatility, while also flagging the outside shot and decision-making as open questions. 13
The cap sheet was the harder part. The reported $6.1 million first-year salary sat about $4 million above Minnesota’s second-apron room, and the Wolves also needed room for a 14th player. The Green trade and Konchar waiver created the roster path, while the stretch provision became the reported fallback for the remaining salary burden. 35
For fantasy and rotation tracking, the important change is the starting opportunity rather than the contract headline. Kuminga is entering a lineup built around Edwards and Ball, while Williams and the eventual 14th player compete for the minutes created by the Green-Konchar sequence. That role distribution stays provisional until the agreement is formally completed and training-camp rotations appear.
New Orleans: Mathurin is agreed, Hawkins is the roster hinge
Bennedict Mathurin agreed to a two-year, $16 million Pelicans contract with a player option. The contract would use part of New Orleans’ non-taxpayer midlevel exception. 6
The Clippers’ withdrawal of Mathurin’s $8.8 million qualifying offer changed the legal route. Mathurin became unrestricted, so New Orleans could sign him directly without an offer sheet or a sign-and-trade. Hoops Rumors reported that the qualifying offer was withdrawn with the player’s consent after the normal unilateral deadline. 7
New Orleans would have 16 players on standard contracts after adding Mathurin. The Pelicans have been shopping Jordan Hawkins to get back to the roster limit, with a waive-and-stretch treatment on his $7 million expiring contract as the alternative reported by Keith Smith. 7
Mathurin’s own role should be read alongside the existing backcourt: Dejounte Murray, Jordan Poole and Jeremiah Fears are already listed in the same group. Mathurin averaged 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 26 games for the Clippers after the February trade, but his three-point rate fell to 20.7% in Los Angeles after 37.2% in Indiana. 7
The stretch deadline explains the week’s cluster of moves
The NBA’s 2026 collective bargaining agreement requires a player to clear waivers by Aug. 31 for the current-season salary to receive the full upcoming-season stretch treatment. Hoops Rumors reported that teams needed to waive such players by Aug. 29 at 4 p.m. Central to make sure the clearance happened before Sept. 1. 15
That rule connected several otherwise separate decisions. Minnesota used the Green-Konchar sequence while trying to finalize Kuminga. Cleveland waived Whitmore after acquiring him in a multi-team deal. New Orleans faced the same roster-pressure question with Hawkins. The timing links the moves; each team still has its own contract and roster outcome to finish.
Rumor and denial lanes
Jordan Hawkins: exploratory trade, stretch fallback
The current report places Hawkins in active trade discussions because New Orleans needs to reduce its standard-contract count after the Mathurin agreement. A waive-and-stretch move remains the fallback described by Keith Smith. The report gives the lane an exploratory grade: the roster need is concrete, while the destination and trade package remain undisclosed. 7
The fit question for a potential buyer is shooting role and salary control. Hawkins is a perimeter scorer whose value rises for a team that can give him a defined spacing assignment. A trade would preserve New Orleans’ cap-sheet flexibility differently from a stretch, while a stretch would spread the cost across future seasons. The source reports the mechanisms; the destination fit remains analysis until a team is named.
Donte DiVincenzo: Minnesota says the trade lane is closed
Brian Windhorst reported that Minnesota has no plan to trade DiVincenzo. Windhorst also described a quiet hope that DiVincenzo, who is recovering from a torn Achilles, could return near the end of the 2026-27 campaign, while stressing that the Wolves are placing no official expectation on his timeline. 13
That makes DiVincenzo a denied trade lane and a medical-monitoring lane. His $12.35 million 2026-27 salary remains on Minnesota’s books, so the roster question is whether the Wolves carry the contract for a possible late-season return while using Kuminga and other wings in the meantime. 13
Stephen Curry: extension window, no transaction yet
Curry’s extension eligibility opened Aug. 29. ESPN reported a possible two-year, $136.7 million extension through June 30, with a maximum first-year salary of $65.7 million. The same update said Golden State could project $45 million–$60 million in 2027 cap space if Curry signs at that maximum. 14
This is a contract watch, not a reported agreement. Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler III can all reach free agency after 2026-27, so Curry’s choice would affect how Golden State plans the next roster cycle. The contract window is concrete; the decision remains open. 14
Fantasy and roster read
The table below is analysis from the reported roles and mechanisms. It does not turn a provisional roster into a lineup instruction.
| Player or lane | Changed opportunity | What to monitor |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Kuminga | A reported starting power-forward role gives him a larger runway beside Minnesota’s primary creators. 1 | Final paperwork, starting-unit minutes and three-point volume. |
| Cody Williams | Minnesota’s trade added a young wing after Green’s departure and Konchar’s waiver. 4 | Whether Williams stays in the rotation once the 14th standard player arrives. |
| Bennedict Mathurin | New Orleans adds another scoring guard, with a player option giving the contract a short horizon. 6 | Hawkins’ outcome, Mathurin’s paperwork and his place beside Murray, Poole and Fears. |
| Nick Richards | Miami adds a center who has recent starting experience while keeping the deal non-guaranteed until the regular season. 8 | Whether Miami uses the remaining apron room on a 15th player. |
| Dalen Terry / Brandon Williams | Golden State’s camp guard competition has two different contract paths: Exhibit 10 for Terry and a reported one-year deal for Williams. 910 | Guarantees, camp usage and the final regular-season guard count. |
| Donte DiVincenzo | The roster plan preserves a possible late-season return while Minnesota builds the early season around healthier wings. 13 | Rehabilitation updates and any official change to the no-trade plan. |
Next concrete signals
- Minnesota’s formal Kuminga completion should settle the reported $12.4 million-versus-$13 million discrepancy and show how the Wolves account for the 14th standard-contract player. 13
- New Orleans’ decision on Jordan Hawkins will reveal whether the Pelicans prefer a trade return or future-year cap relief through a stretch. 7
- Mathurin’s contract filing and the Pelicans’ standard-contract count will determine how much of the reported backcourt competition reaches camp. 6
- Miami’s final roster choice will show whether the roughly $2.57 million under the first apron becomes a 15th-man contract. 8
- Golden State’s camp competition will decide whether Terry’s Exhibit 10 deal converts into a regular-season roster place or ends before opening night. 10
- Curry’s extension decision remains the Warriors’ largest unresolved contract question, with June 30 as the reported window endpoint. 14
References
- 1
- 2
- 3Jonathan Kuminga Agrees To Two-Year Deal With Timberwolves
hoopsrumors.com
- 4
- 5Timberwolves Waive John Konchar
hoopsrumors.com
- 6
- 7Clippers Withdraw Bennedict Mathurin’s Qualifying Offer
hoopsrumors.com
- 8Heat Sign Nick Richards To One-Year Contract
hoopsrumors.com
- 9
- 10Warriors Sign Dalen Terry To Training Camp Deal
hoopsrumors.com
- 11Cavaliers Waive Cam Whitmore
hoopsrumors.com
- 12Nuggets Release Julian Reese
hoopsrumors.com
- 13Timberwolves Notes: Kuminga, DiVincenzo, Stad
hoopsrumors.com
- 14
- 15Deadline Looms For Teams To Stretch 2026/27 Salaries
hoopsrumors.com
This story was produced automatically by a channel. One sentence is all it takes for Neodrop to keep producing for you.