Shaedon Sharpe’s torn meniscus has already forced the Portland Trail Blazers to start looking at the roster a little differently, and that opens the door to a trade idea built around Jonathan Kuminga.
One version of that swap would send Sharpe to the Atlanta Hawks, with Portland taking on Kuminga and his contract. Kuminga is looking for a deal in the range of $15-18 million, and the Blazers could be willing to make that move if they’re also sending Sharpe out the door.
From Portland’s side, the math is pretty straightforward. Sharpe isn’t expected to give them much this season because he is out for the next six months, so moving him now changes the shape of the season immediately. If the Blazers flip him for Kuminga and sign Kuminga to a three-year, $45 million contract, they’d actually come out ahead financially.
Sharpe is set to make $90 million over the next four seasons, including this one, even though he won’t be on the floor for most of it. If Portland is willing to include some draft pick sweeteners, the framework could work.
For the Blazers, Kuminga would give them a player who can come in as a sixth man and add depth in the frontcourt. His NBA path has been uneven, but there’s still plenty of intrigue there.
He landed in Golden State as a rookie, won a championship in that first season, and for a while looked like a player the Warriors might build around. That never fully came together.
Kuminga was unable to reach a long-term agreement with the Warriors, which led to him being traded to the Hawks in the middle of the season. Atlanta also hasn’t found a permanent answer with him, which is why he still hasn’t landed a long-term deal there.
He’s now looking for a fresh start with a team that can use him for the long haul, and Portland could be that place. The idea would be to give him a real chance to settle in and grow as he heads into his age-24 season.
Atlanta’s side of the deal makes sense too. The Hawks clearly don’t have Kuminga penciled into their long-term plans, or they would have locked him up already. Instead, they’d be getting Sharpe and the possibility of fitting him into the rotation by the end of this season or next.
That also fits with the situation around former Blazers guard CJ McCollum, who is on a one-year, $21 million deal with the Hawks and will be a free agent after the season. McCollum will be 35 when the season begins, so his future as Atlanta’s starting point guard is very much up in the air.
Sharpe could be part of that picture next season and push for a starting role, particularly if rookie Kingston Flemings still isn’t ready. In that sense, the trade would give Atlanta help for the future while giving Portland relief right now - a setup that could leave both teams better off if it ever gets done.
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From Atlantas side, passing on a reunion with Kuminga fits a summer that has been about narrowing the path rather than widening it. Kuminga still brings the kind of two-way upside that makes him a natural fit for a fast-paced team like Minnesota, but the Hawks have clearly chosen a different direction with their roster build, leaving less room for another young wing to enter the mix. [Read more 🡒]
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What makes the idea worth watching is how neatly it could solve more than one problem at once. In this framework, Atlanta would not just be trimming excess bodies, but doing so in a way that preserves financial breathing room and gives the front office a cleaner path forward, even if the exact names in the proposal are still only part of a hypothetical construction. [Read more 🡒]