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The Lakers will enter training camp without Jonathan Kuminga after spending much of the summer trying to bring the young forward to Los Angeles.

Kuminga ultimately accepted a two-year, $12.4 million contract with Minnesota, despite the Lakers being prepared to offer considerably more money through a potential sign-and-trade.

Los Angeles envisioned Kuminga as part of its starting five with Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Walker Kessler and Quentin Grimes.

The team met with him early in free agency and gradually improved its financial proposal, but completing the move became more complicated once the Lakers moved above the salary cap.

For Kuminga, Minnesota offered something Los Angeles could not: an earlier opportunity to determine his next contract.

His player option allows him to return to the market as soon as next summer if he has a strong season, rather than committing himself to a longer deal.

He will also immediately join a Timberwolves team built to compete in the West, with Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert surrounding him in the projected starting lineup.

Missing on Kuminga leaves the Lakers with few obvious ways to address their weakness on the wing.

Most available players capable of filling that role have already found teams, while Los Angeles does not have much draft capital to use in a trade.

As a result, the Lakers may simply choose their fifth starter from the current roster.

If another signing comes before camp, adding a backup big man behind Kessler and Kevon Looney appears more realistic than finding another starting-level wing.