Jonathan Kuminga has finally been released from the Golden State Warriors. In the end, Golden State landed a valuable if unreliable player on an expiring contract in exchange for its dissatisfied forward, waiting until the trade deadline to deal him.
The Warriors acquired Kristaps Porzingis from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Kuminga and Buddy Hield, according to ESPN insider Shams Charania. Kuminga had been caught up in trade rumors dating back to his lengthy restricted free agency over the summer, and now he has the fresh start in Atlanta he was looking for. The Warriors also traded Trayce Jackson-Davis to the Toronto Raptors for a 2026 second-round pick originally owned by the Los Angeles Lakers shortly after the deal, according to Charania.
Most of the Warriors’ talk before the deadline focused on their pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Is that over for now? Let’s rate this surprising exchange for both parties.
Warriors grade for Kristaps Porzingis-Jonathan Kuminga trade
Porzingis hasn’t played much since last season with the Boston Celtics. He has battled the disease after being diagnosed with POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), a nervous system disorder that causes rapid heart rate and dizziness.
This season Porzingis has only played in 18 of Atlanta’s 58 games. When he’s been on the court, he’s graded incredibly well in advanced metrics: He’s 11th in the entire league in EPM because he’s the rare player to rank above the 90th percentile in effectiveness on both ends of the floor. Porzingis hasn’t really been available enough to help Atlanta, but he hints at what he can do if he can ever stay healthy.
Obviously, the advanced numbers exaggerate Porzingis’ impact. No one who’s watched the Hawks this year believes he’s anywhere near a top-10 player in the league. At the same time, Porzingis has a unique skill set as a 7’3 big man who can block shots and make 3-pointers at an elite rate for his position. His 4.8 percent block rate this season is a huge number that ranks in the 91st percentile of all bigs. He’s also hitting 36 percent of his 3-pointers on nearly 10 attempts per 100 possessions.
Porzingis stands out mainly because he doesn’t turn the ball over at all. Possessions are important, people! He’s been a low-rotation player his entire career, but he’s about to enter an offensive system that requires its bigs to make quick reads of passes. He’s never played in anything like Steve Kerr’s offense before, and it will probably take him some time to adjust… if he can stay healthy enough for this trade to matter.
Porzingis’ $30.7 million contract comes off the books this summer, meaning Golden State immediately upgraded its rotation without taking on any long-term risks. Could they really have gotten something better for Kuminga? I don’t think so. Porzingis may never make an impact for Golden State because he can’t be on the court, but he’s still pretty good if his health situation changes, and that would add an impact player to a Warriors frontcourt that needs one.
The fact that the Warriors also benefited from Buddy Hield’s final two years in this deal is even more impressive. That alone is a huge win for Golden State, and getting a player like Porzingis is just icing on the cake.
Hawks rate Jonathan Kuminga trade
Porzingis was not in Atlanta’s long-term plans, and it has been known for some time that the team wanted to trade him during the season. Kuminga is an interesting return as a physically gifted forward who has never been able to fully put it all together. Kuminga wasn’t a good enough decision-maker, shooter or defender to earn Steve Kerr’s trust, and that had him pouting on the sidelines for most of his tenure with the Warriors. He needed a change of scenery and Atlanta provided it.
Kuminga and Jalen Johnson could give the Hawks a huge wing tandem if he is in their long-term plans. Atlanta’s future depends mostly on whether they get lucky in the lottery with the New Orleans Pelicans pick they wisely acquired in last year’s draft. The Hawks feel like they are under construction after the Trae Young trade, so it’s hard to make any assumptions about what this team will look like next year. For now, Kuminga will likely get a chance to run the floor and get baskets, as Atlanta will likely sneak into the play-in tournament.
The most surprising thing about this trade is that Atlanta was willing to take on the final two years of Buddy Hield’s deal. He earns $9.6 million next year and then $10 million in 2027-28. Hield has a really bad contract and I don’t think Kuminga is good enough to take on that money.