The Atlanta Hawks have spent the last two years making their small-forward plans impossible to miss.
They took Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, swung a trade for Jonathan Kuminga, and now they’re looking at Peyton Watson in free agency. That sequence says plenty on its own. Atlanta isn’t just shopping for another wing - it’s chasing a very specific kind of one.
Watson’s fit points straight to the role the Hawks hoped Kuminga would fill. They want a forward who can defend, space the floor and hold up as a true two-way piece.
That’s where Kuminga’s story in Atlanta gets interesting. His first four-and-a-half NBA seasons were rocky, with the top-10 pick being asked almost immediately to do things that didn’t match his skill set. The demands kept coming, the development never fully caught up, and he ended up signing his qualifying offer instead of landing an extension or a multi-year deal.
Atlanta benefited from that decision. It was able to trade for Kuminga without giving up a single draft pick.
But the fit never looked fully settled, which is why the Hawks are now working through sign-and-trade offers for him. He showed enough to stay in fourth-quarter playoff lineups, but not enough as a shooter or defender to lock himself in as a long-term answer.
The Hawks’ current roster makes the search even more specific. Nickeil Alexander-Walker gives them shooting and scoring.
Dyson Daniels brings elite defense and playmaking. Jalen Johnson is the all-around forward in the group.
Onyeka Okongwu fits the mold of a 3-and-D big. CJ McCollum could round things out if he re-signs after a strong postseason, but Atlanta also made its preference for size clear during the playoffs.
Kuminga kept showing up in those fourth-quarter groups, usually taking Daniels’ spot. That usage said a lot about what Atlanta values at forward: balance, size and enough shooting to keep the floor open.
Kuminga’s three-point shooting never really matched the need, though he did convert more efficiently than Daniels while bringing defensive size. That combination was enough to keep him in the mix, but not enough to make him the clean answer.
Watson looks like the cleaner version of that idea. The 6-foot-8 wing hit 41.1 percent from three and, according to Basketball Index, ranked in the 97th percentile in perimeter isolation defense and the 92nd percentile in off-ball chaser defense in 2025-26.
That makes Watson the kind of target Atlanta has been circling all along. More than anything, his interest lays bare what the Hawks have been trying to build at small forward - and what they wanted Kuminga to become.
In Other News...
Hawks Face A Tough Trade Deadline Decision Around Their Core
The Hawks trade-deadline math starts with the same complication that hangs over a lot of good teams: the players who would be easiest to move are not always the ones Atlanta can most comfortably part with. Several of the rosters most attractive contracts belong to young pieces and rotation regulars whose value appears to outpace their salary, which makes them useful on the floor and harder to imagine as deadline chips.
At the same time, Atlanta does have some flexibility if it decides to chase a bigger swing. There is expiring money on the books, and the front office also has to keep an eye on how certain contract decisions could change the shape of the roster in the months ahead. For a team trying to stay competitive without hollowing out its core, the deadline may come down to how much short-term help it is willing to sacrifice for longer-term control. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Free Agency Report Card Has One Grade Fans May Hate
The Hawks have spent the summer building with patience instead of splashy urgency, leaning into a longer view as they reshape the roster around the 2026-2027 season. Between the draft, a handful of trades and a series of retention moves, Atlanta has tried to add both veteran stability and younger depth, with names like CJ McCollum, Nicolo Melli, Andrew Wiggins and Keegan Murray all part of the broader retool.
Even so, not every decision has landed cleanly with fans, and that is where the grades start to wobble a bit. Atlanta has kept the door open on Jonathan Kuminga while also sorting through the rest of its free-agent business, and the front offices willingness to hold onto certain pieces instead of moving on from them has left at least one part of the report card looking far less popular than the rest. [Read more 🡒]