Jonathan Kuminga is back on the market.
The Hawks reportedly turned down his $24.3 million team option on Monday, a move that sends the former Warriors forward into unrestricted free agency, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported, citing sources. Atlanta’s decision wasn’t exactly a shock. The team had already been checking around the league in recent weeks to see what Kuminga might fetch in a trade, and John Hollinger’s BORD$ valuation system had pegged his market value well below the $24.3 million attached to the option.
That made the call a clean financial one for a front office focused on building around Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels.
Kuminga’s time in Atlanta was short, but it did have a spark. He played 16 games after arriving from Golden State in February and put up 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in 22.1 minutes per game.
The debut was eye-catching - 27 points right out of the gate - but the production didn’t keep climbing from there. His 5-of-24 mark from 3-point range in Atlanta’s first-round playoff loss to the Knicks brought back the same lingering questions that followed him through his Warriors tenure.
The Hawks still aren’t necessarily done with him, though. Declining the option doesn’t lock the door on a new deal, and Atlanta can still work toward a longer-term agreement at a lower annual number if the fit and the money line up.
For now, Kuminga heads into free agency for the second straight summer, this time with no restrictions on where he can sign. The move comes after a summer-long contract feud with Golden State that ultimately led to the trade, part of a stretch of growing frustration over his role with the Warriors.
There’s already interest waiting. Marc J. Spears reported that the Kings had strong interest in Kuminga before he was dealt from Golden State to Atlanta, and they’re now expected to go after him again as a free agent.
A Warriors reunion isn’t impossible, either, even if the timing looks awkward with Golden State currently pursuing LeBron James and Anthony Davis. In an offseason this fluid, nothing stays dead for long.
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The catch is financial, and it is a significant one. Sacramento is currently projected to be above the first tax apron, which means there would be real work to do before the Kings could create the kind of cap flexibility needed to compete for Robinson. Until that changes, interest is one thing and actual pursuit is another, leaving the front office with a familiar offseason balancing act. [Read more 🡒]