Jonathan Kuminga is headed into this season with a new contract, a new team and a fresh round of scrutiny, and his agent has spent part of the week pushing back on the noise.
The latest claim to draw attention was the idea that Kuminga posted the best on/off ratings and had the biggest winning impact for the Atlanta Hawks after the trade deadline last season. That’s the argument the agent has been making as criticism around Kuminga’s deal and value has followed him into Minnesota.
The numbers in the source story tell a different version of that stretch. Kuminga ranked sixth on the Hawks in plus/minus from the time he was traded there through the end of the regular season. He also finished fifth on the team in net rating during that span, then slid to ninth in net rating in the playoffs.
What matters now, though, is what Kuminga does for the Timberwolves. He’s expected to open the upcoming season in the starting lineup at power forward, flanked by LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Jalen McDaniels and Rudy Gobert.
Kuminga’s playoff run with Atlanta offered a useful snapshot of his role. He played all six games in the Hawks’ first-round series against the New York Knicks coming off the bench, logging just about 26 minutes per game. Over that series, he averaged 13.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists while shooting 48.3 percent from the field, 20.8 percent from 3-point range and 73.1 percent at the free-throw line.
In Other News...
Hawks Face A Veteran Roster Crunch They Cant Avoid
Atlantas roster is already at 17 players, and the front office has a familiar summer problem to solve before training camp arrives in 2027: trim the group down to the 15-man limit without undercutting the depth it has built. It is the kind of decision that usually lands somewhere between basketball fit and financial practicality, and the Hawks are clearly spending time weighing both as they sort out the shape of the bench for the coming season.
Buddy Hield and Corey Kispert have emerged as the names to watch in that conversation, each for different reasons tied to role and contract value. Atlanta does not appear to have a simple answer here, which is why the roster crunch has become more than a bookkeeping exercise. The Hawks are still evaluating whether the cleanest path is to cut or move one of those veterans, and the next step will say plenty about how aggressively they want to manage the back end of the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Fans Have A Real Reason To Watch New Orleans Closely
New Orleans has added another scorer to a roster that already carries plenty of intrigue, and for Hawks fans, the Pelicans are suddenly worth tracking a little more closely. Bennedict Mathurin, who was a key scoring presence for the Indiana Pacers in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, is now headed to a team that already has Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Yves Missi and Derik Queen in the mix, giving the Pelicans even more talent to sort through.
The fit is where it gets interesting. Mathurin brings shot-making, but his limitations on defense and as a playmaker leave New Orleans with another real lineup question to answer, especially with trade chatter already circling parts of the roster. For Atlanta, the appeal is obvious: the more volatile New Orleans becomes, the more closely the Hawks have to watch what happens next. [Read more 🡒]
Hawks Deadline Idea Would Address A Problem Fans Know Too Well
The Hawks interior defense has been a familiar sore spot, and a proposed deadline fix has them looking at a big man who could help clean up the paint without costing them a headline-grabbing return. In the hypothetical scenario, Atlanta lands Jay Huff from Indiana, a move built around the idea that his length and rim protection would give the roster a different look on the back line while the Pacers consider a modest reshuffle of their own.
Any such deal would come down to whether both sides see enough value in the exchange to pull the trigger, since Atlanta would be chasing a targeted upgrade rather than a full-scale overhaul. The appeal is clear for the Hawks: a chance to address a problem fans have watched drag on for too long, with the trade talk centered on fit, timing and whether this is the kind of under-the-radar addition that can actually make a difference. [Read more 🡒]