Jonathan Kuminga’s move to the Minnesota Timberwolves closes the door on what the Atlanta Hawks had, and it also clarifies what they’re giving up.
Minnesota could sell him a starting power forward job, a shot at a championship next to Anthony Edwards and a contract with a built-in out next season if he wants a bigger payday. Atlanta may have been able to match the money, but not the role or the minutes Kuminga was after.
So the Hawks not bringing him back is understandable. It does not suddenly make the Kristaps Porzingis trade a mistake, and it probably won’t be the thing that decides whether Atlanta reaches the postseason.
But it would be wrong to say Kuminga didn’t matter.
In 16 games with the Hawks, he put up 12.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting 47.6/34.6/70.2. Those numbers are fine, not flashy.
The bigger story is how Atlanta looked with him on the floor. Over 297 regular-season minutes, the Hawks were 15.5 points better by net rating and posted a strong defensive rating of 101.6.
The playoff sample was shakier: Atlanta had a defensive rating of 115.9 in 134 playoff minutes with Kuminga, but that still looked better than the 127.0 mark they posted when he sat.
That’s why his run in Atlanta lands in the middle ground. He wasn’t a disappointment, and he wasn’t a breakout success either.
He defended well, cleaned up possessions on offense and never really took a leap that would have forced the Hawks to pay him. Still, there are real basketball things Atlanta will miss.
The best version of Kuminga on defense came against the kind of wing players who can make life miserable if you can’t stay attached to them. His strongest work came against Bilal Coulibaly, Jerami Grant and Cameron Johnson.
He held each of them under a 40% TS% and below 15 points per 75 possessions. That’s a useful profile, especially against small forwards who lean on speed or perimeter scoring.
He had a tougher time against bigger forwards like Aaron Gordon and against backcourt players.
That mix of quickness and strength is part of what made him valuable. He can run with perimeter scorers and still keep them from getting easy looks around the basket.
Atlanta did bring in another quality perimeter defender in Lu Dort, but Dort is more of a stopper for No. 1 options, especially on the wing. He doesn’t have Kuminga’s speed, and that leaves a different kind of hole.
The Hawks are also going to feel Kuminga’s work on the offensive glass. That was a real help for a team that struggled badly in that area.
Atlanta ranked 18th in offensive rebounds per game, 20th in offensive rebounding percentage, 20th in second-chance points and 14th out of 16 postseason teams in OREB%. The Knicks were a clear problem there, but the issue runs deeper than one matchup.
Jock Landale is a decent offensive rebounder, with 2.7 offensive rebounds a game last season, which ranked in the 74th percentile among centers. The catch is that he’s a backup center, so his overall influence there is limited.
Kuminga, meanwhile, averaged 1.4 offensive rebounds a game, good for the 85th percentile among forwards, and grabbed 6.5% of team misses, which put him in the 90th percentile. Atlanta is counting on Asa Newell and Zuby Ejiofor to help cover that ground, but having Kuminga around would have bought those players more time to grow into the role.
His free-throw shooting is not a major loss. Kuminga shot 72.4% at the line, which ranked in the 24th percentile among all forwards, and Atlanta is not going to miss him as a pure free-throw shooter.
What the Hawks will miss is the pressure he put on the rim. He drew free throws at a strong rate, posting 0.36 free throws per field-goal attempt, which ranked in the 91st percentile among all forwards.
That helped slow the game down and gave Atlanta a source of contact they do not have in abundance. He drew more free throws than Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Dyson Daniels.
That makes it even more important for Atlanta’s scoring options to get better at creating contact this season.
In Other News...
Hawks Could Have Another Award Contender Hiding In Plain Sight
The Hawks have already enjoyed back-to-back Most Improved Player winners in Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, which is a pretty remarkable run for a franchise that has spent the last stretch finding value in all the right places. With the award now drifting into a new season, Atlantas recent track record alone makes it worth watching any familiar name who might still have room to climb, especially on a team where defense and versatility have become part of the identity.
One of the more interesting names in that conversation is Andrew Wiggins, whose role and reputation have long made him a player teams view through a different lens than the typical breakout candidate. The same conversation also brings Lu Dort into the frame as a defensive force who could end up in a strong award position depending on how his role settles. Victor Wembanyama remains the favorite, but if the Hawks are indeed still hiding another contender in plain sight, the next few months should make that a lot clearer. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Are Getting Serious Buzz As An East Threat Again
Atlantas rise back into the East conversation is starting to show up in the national outlook, not just in how it looked on the floor last season. The Hawks finished sixth in the conference and carried that competitiveness into the playoffs, which gave a clearer sense that this group was more than a feel-good regular-season story.
ESPNs latest projection reflects that momentum, slotting Atlanta among the teams expected to make one of the bigger jumps next season. The buzz is being tied to a defense that can defend on the perimeter in waves, a trait that tends to travel well and can change how a team handles the best guards and wings in the conference. [Read more 🡒]
Kingston Flemings May Decide How Far The Jalen Johnson Era Goes
With Trae Young gone and the Hawks leaning into the Jalen Johnson era, the next phase of the roster has already started to take shape around younger pieces and future cap decisions. At the center of that long-view plan is Kingston Flemings, Atlantas 2026 first-round pick, whose strong run at Houston made him look like more than just another development project. The Hawks need offensive players who can grow with Johnson, and Flemings has the kind of guard talent that could eventually give the offense a different gear.
For now, Atlanta can lean on CJ McCollum for perimeter scoring, which buys the rookie time to adjust without being rushed into a lead role. Still, the bigger question hanging over this reset is whether Flemings becomes the guard who helps define how far Johnson can carry the Hawks. If he develops into the player the organization thinks he can be, this transition could look a lot less like a rebuild and more like the beginning of something real. [Read more 🡒]