Kuminga, Hawks both needed this kind of joy

I’ll admit it: I was skeptical when the Hawks acquired a guy who didn’t exactly endear himself to four-time championship head coach Steve Kerr. But clearly, sometimes a change in scenery is all you really need.

Or maybe the Warriors just didn’t know what they had.

Jonathan Kuminga was drafted seventh overall in the 2021 NBA Draft, and the original plan was for him to help guide the Golden State Warriors into a new era once the core dynasty players aged out.

Well, that didn’t quite happen — and to the great benefit of these Atlanta Hawks.

Since arriving here at the trade deadline, in just three games (albeit against the tanking Wizards and the Blazers minus Deni Avdija), Jonathan Kuminga has given fans something to believe in with this team. In 26.7 minutes per game, he’s averaging 21.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per contest while shooting 68/56/77 in the traditional shooting triple slash (a blistering 79% true shooting percentage).

And it hasn’t been one-way impact. He’s been a big contributor on defense as well with the team a +43 in his 80 court minutes so far.

There were concerns with his unwillingness to move the ball in a system that encourages quick decision making. Well, that concern has been assuaged with his sharp passing and good decision making so far. His 10-assist to eight-turnover ratio far undersells how easy he’s moved the ball so far and how well he’s seeing the floor.

After the missed corner three last time out against Portland, Kuminga hustles for the rebound in the video below. With the Blazers trying to reset their defense, he finds Landale for an easy dunk:

There were also concerns with his style of play on offense for a guy whose best attribute is getting into the restricted area. But so far, Kuminga has attacked the rim and been rewarded for his efforts.

Out of his 64 points scored, 32 of them are from the painted area and another 17 are off free throws after getting fouled. That means that 49-of-64 points or 77% of his scoring is coming from his downhill pressure.

From the beginning of the season until February 23, the day before Kuminga’s debut for the Hawks, the team was 27th in free throw rate (a ratio of free throw attempts to field goal attempts) at 0.232. Kuminga has a career free throw rate of 0.364 — and through three games, it’s a sky-high 0.710 here. That’s been a huge shot in the arm for a Quin Snyder team that wants to drive and kick more and more.

Additionally, the other 15 points are from his 5-for-9 (56%) performance from three-point land. He’s a career 33% three-point shooter, so I don’t expect this accuracy to continue, but his willingness to let it fly will certainly endear himself to the current coaching staff.

There were even concerns with his ability to fit in a team defense that needs forwards and centers alike to contribute to keeping opponents out of the restricted area. Well, he’s looked very engaged on that end, with five steals and a block so far.

Look at him slide his puppies in the clip below. And he finishes the possession with a tough close out on Jerami Grant:

In this next one, Kuminga sinks into the paint as the low man on defense. He gets off a clean weakside block on Tristan Vukcevic that starts a break the other way:

And here, he stays attached with his man, Grant again, while keeping eyes on the driving Jrue Holiday. But when he notices Holiday get too deep under the rim without a good outlet, Kuminga peels over to the relocating Blake Wesley and intercepts the pass:

The Hawks have struggled against physical teams like the Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors this year. They’ve gotten pushed around on the boards and outmuscled on drives more times than I can count.

The front office responded by beefing up at the deadline. First, was picking up the 6-foot-11, 255-pound Jock Landale for free (minus a bit of cash money). Now comes in a 6-foot-7, 225-point forward who has no problem mixing it up when need be. And the team has responded with a fun brand of basketball in the past month.

Finally.

Sometimes, it’s best to not overthink things. Jonathan Kuminga possesses a level of athleticism, power, and open court pace that you can’t teach. There was always lottery talent there, even if it didn’t shine as much in the Bay Area as many had hoped.

Now he’s playing his game — and that joy has been infectious.

The Hawks have blown out three straight opponents, with the latest a highlight dunkfest for Kuminga. It doesn’t take long to notice that he’s displaying a level of excitement to be playing the game of basketball and getting a new start in Atlanta:

And the greater NBA world is even taking notice. This from NBA insider Brian Windhorst on ESPN’s NBA Today:

In retrospect, there was really only upside when the Hawks made this move in the dead of night the evening before the trade deadline. When the cost is just an illness-stricken 30-year-old center who has only managed to play one game (in a blowout loss) for his new team, the Golden State Warriors, it’s already clear that the trade is a big win for Atlanta — even if ‘JK’ comes back to Earth a bit.

The Hawks experimented for a few minutes with both he and Jalen Johnson sharing the floor, and I suspect we’ll see more of that given the collective talent level. But there also may be a possible skillset overlap to look into in these lineups.

These next 20-plus games will be an interesting showcase to evaluate his fit, and that means it’s entirely possible he plays his way into a long-term future here.

At the end of this season, the Hawks own a $24.3 million team option on his contract. That ultimately means there’s no reason for him to walk in free agency unless the team chooses to part ways. Either you work out a trade, an extension, or merely pick up the option and figure things out during the 2026-27 season.

These past few games have been fun, but we truly need a bigger sample size against better teams to declare the trade an absolute heist. Still, the early returns have been everything we would have wanted and more.

It’s a little too early to say I was way off base, but I promise I will happily eat my words if Kuminga continues to play well enough to force the Hawks to keep him in their plans.