The Hawks didn’t move up into the top four of the 2026 NBA Draft, but they still walked away with a guard who could end up mattering a lot in Atlanta.
After plenty of chatter about whether the team would trade up or slide back on draft night, Atlanta stayed put at No. 8 and took Houston point guard Kingston Flemings. He comes out of one of the deepest freshman classes to ever hit the draft, and the Hawks are banking on long-term upside. The plan is clear enough: let him grow into a bench role, learn behind CJ McCollum this season, and eventually become the team’s starting point guard.
That kind of projection always comes with some guesswork, though. Flemings is talented, but he’s not finished. The question now is what his NBA path really looks like.
A safe floor for Flemings starts with a player like Jameer Nelson. Nelson carved out a strong career as a backup point guard, and that’s the baseline here.
He was a solid floor general who could organize an offense, but the shooting was never a major weapon. At his best, he was a below-average three-point shooter who knew how to run a team.
That’s the kind of mold Flemings could fit if everything breaks in the most conservative direction. Summer League offered a glimpse of that version: he handled the offense well, found the open man, and kept the floor moving, but the finishing at the rim was shaky and the three-point shot wasn’t there yet.
Nelson finished his career as a 34% three-point shooter and averaged 3.8 assists per game, and that’s the sort of profile Flemings could settle into at the minimum.
The median outcome is where Brandon Knight comes in. Knight was a streaky shooter who had real scoring pop at his peak, and he spent more than a decade in the league.
He also had seasons where the three-ball sat in that 30-35% range, even though he hit 41% from deep in 2014-2015 with the Milwaukee Bucks. The physical comparison makes some sense too, since both players are built similarly in terms of height and weight.
The difference is important, though: Knight was more of a scorer than a passer when he was at his best, while Flemings projects more naturally as a pass-first lead guard.
The name that gets thrown around most often at the top end is De’Aaron Fox, but there’s also a world where Flemings lands closer to Tyrese Maxey, which would be an even better result for Atlanta. Maxey has become one of the league’s elite guards by using his speed to get downhill, finish at the rim, and turn himself into a real pull-up threat from deep. He also hasn’t let size hold him back defensively, becoming one of the league’s top steal artists.
That kind of leap is probably the optimistic version of the story, not the most likely one. Still, even if Flemings never reaches the full ceiling some imagined on draft night, he can still become a highly useful guard. At his best, he could be a dangerous transition player, a real threat from three, and a defender who doesn’t let size become an issue.
Atlanta is hoping it found a star point guard. Time will tell whether Kingston Flemings becomes that player.
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