{"id":804256,"date":"2026-08-05T11:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T11:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/804256\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T11:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T11:03:16","slug":"cavaliers-highly-unlikely-to-land-both-jonathan-kuminga-and-peyton-watson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/804256\/","title":{"rendered":"Cavaliers ‘highly unlikely’ to land both Jonathan Kuminga and Peyton Watson"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cavs, sources say, have been in touch with Kuminga’s representatives throughout the week, trying to determine whether there is a realistic financial pathway to a deal and what it would cost \u2014 both in salary and roster subtractions.<\/a> With the Cavaliers<\/a>‘ current cap situation, any sign-and-trade would create a hard cap at the first apron. \u2014 7\/31\/2026 Cleveland Plain Dealer<\/a><\/p>\n

Sources say the 23-year-old Kuminga wants an annual deal in the $15-20 million range,<\/a> which would necessitate a sign-and-trade with Atlanta involving either swingman Max Strus<\/a> or Dennis Schroder<\/a>. The Hawks, already with 17 players on the roster and incredibly close to the luxury tax, would have to cooperate \u2014 and actually want what Cleveland<\/a>, the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>, Los Angeles Clippers<\/a> or Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> are willing to offer in a sign-and-trade. \u2014 7\/31\/2026 Cleveland Plain Dealer<\/a><\/p>\n

Sources say the Cavs have expressed interest in free agents DeMar DeRozan, Peyton Watson and Jonathan Kuminga<\/a>. DeRozan<\/a>, the 17-year NBA veteran, was waived by Sacramento<\/a> a little more than three weeks ago and has been viewed leaguewide as a possible low-cost target for any team that missed on LeBron<\/a>. There’s an argument that DeRozan is the best available free agent. \u2014 7\/31\/2026 Cleveland Plain Dealer<\/a><\/p>\n

Amid active sign-and-trade interest from the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers, along with the possibility of re-signing with the Atlanta Hawks, another suitor has expressed interest in free agent forward Jonathan Kuminga. After missing out on their pursuit of LeBron James, the Minnesota Timberwolves have also expressed interest in Kuminga with their starting power forward spot up for grabs and their $6.06 million taxpayer mid-level exception available for the taking,<\/a> league sources told HoopsHype. \u2014 7\/31\/2026 HoopsHype<\/a><\/p>\n

NBABase: Both the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers are actively pursuing Jonathan Kuminga via sign-and-trade, per @ShamsCharania “Whatever deal could happen will likely be a sign-and-trade. So that’s where both the Lakers and Cavs would need the Hawks to work with them on a Kuminga deal.<\/a> They would also have to get Kuminga on the same page with them all in a potential deal.” \u2014 7\/29\/2026 x.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Brian Windhorst: “The Cavs are still in the game for Jonathan Kuminga.<\/a> I’ve talked to his agent. He does see a really good fit in Cleveland. I listen to the pathways the Cavs have to get him and I don’t think they’re realistic. That said, if you’d told me seven weeks ago that the 76ers<\/a> would have Jaylen Brown<\/a> and LeBron James, I would have not thought that was realistic.” \u2014 7\/27\/2026 YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n

Shams Charania: “The Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers are among the teams seriously pursuing Kuminga. There are a couple other teams as well poking around this situation.<\/a> Both the Lakers and the Cavs would have sizable roles potentially as a starter for Kuminga, but they would need a sign-and-trade that works for the Atlanta Hawks who declined his team option for this summer, as well as a number that Kuminga would accept as well. Those conversations are ongoing.” \u2014 7\/27\/2026 YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n

He’s been in talks this free agency on a new contract or a potential sign-and-trade out of Atlanta, but nothing has materialized nearly a month into the process. According to NBA insider Keith Smith, the biggest obstacle with Kuminga is the length of the deal. He can only be traded if he signs a three-year deal, but he insists on signing a one-year contract if he has to accept less money than he’s aiming for. “The challenge with Kuminga is that if he’s gonna take less money than what he wants, then he only wants to do it for a year,” reported Keith Smith. “He doesn’t want to do a three-year deal, and in order to do a sign-and-trade, he would have to have a three-year contract. That gets him stuck a little bit. He doesn’t want to be on a smaller contract that devalues himself.”<\/a> \u2014 7\/26\/2026 Fade Away World<\/a><\/p>\n

Jonathan Kuminga has been in a holding pattern because of James’ decision. No tangible progress toward a deal between the Lakers and Kuminga has been made over the last couple of weeks, a source told The Post. The Cavaliers also have significant interest in Kuminga, sources said. Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson coached Kuminga while Atkinson was an assistant coach with the Warriors<\/a> from 2021-24. If James doesn’t go back to Cleveland for a third stint, it increases the likelihood of Kuminga joining the Cavaliers, who would likely make other moves to bring in Kuminga in addition to a sign-and-trade.<\/a> \u2014 7\/24\/2026 New York Post<\/a><\/p>\n

ESPN Cleveland: Two free agent names to watch for the Cavs now that they’re not getting LeBron,<\/a> according to @WindhorstESPN : – Jonathan Kuminga – Mario Hezonja<\/a> \u2014 7\/24\/2026 x.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cavs, sources say, have been in touch with Kuminga’s representatives throughout the week, trying to determine whether…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":804257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3772],"tags":[208,7,306,136,305,193,96690,3846,867,150,6,1146,2484],"class_list":["post-804256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-atlanta-hawks","tag-basketball","tag-cavaliers","tag-cavs","tag-cleveland","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-cleveland-plain-dealer","tag-clevelandcavaliers","tag-jonathan-kuminga","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-nba","tag-peyton-watson","tag-the-cavaliers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117042571123390661","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=804256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/804257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=804256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=804256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=804256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}