While Golden State Warriors fans are rejoicing in their end of the Kristaps Porzingis-Jonathan Kuminga swap, it’s worth cautioning these fans that this might not be the win they think it is.
Writer Peter O’Keefe of Blue Man Hoop wrote that the Atlanta Hawks will soon come to learn just how injury-prone Jonathan Kuminga is after the newly acquired forward was ruled out for the first two weeks of his tenure in Atlanta. While it may be true that Kuminga has suffered his fair share of injuries over the last couple of seasons, there is one key point to remember that undermines this criticism: Kuminga was traded for Porzingis.
Porzingis is among the 30 best players in the NBA today when healthy, but “when healthy” is quite the caveat. He played in less than a third of possible games during his brief tenure in Atlanta, suffering from his usual host of injuries and POTS, a cardiovascular condition uncommon in NBA athletes.
Kuminga’s injury history is slightly concerning, but still an improvement
It’s hard to parse just how injury-prone Kuminga has been over the past few seasons, as he has been held out of games both for injury and by the coach’s decision.
Still, according to FlashScoreUSA, Kuminga’s longest absences over the past three seasons were nine weeks (ankle, January - March 2025) and two weeks (knee, November 2025). This isn’t exactly the most promising news to hear, but one 2+ week injury over the past two seasons also isn’t a massive red flag. After all, all of his other absences since the 2022-23 season were no longer than 10 days. Excluding the nine-week ankle injury, his injury record is pretty standard for an NBA player (particularly one as explosive as Kuminga).
It is worth noting that Kuminga’s injury history is littered with one/two-game absences. However, this is quite common in the NBA, and, again, considering Warriors coach Steve Kerr didn’t want to play Kuminga anyway, who can really know how much of this can be chalked up to overly cautious injury management?
Is it somewhat concerning that the Hawks traded an injury-prone player for a player who is currently injured? Yes. Is it a problem so big that the team will regret the move? No. If the Hawks look back at this trade with any regret, it will be for one of two reasons: Porzingis finally figures out his health problems in Golden State, or Onsi Saleh signs Kuminga to a reckless long-term extension.
Either way, Hawks fans should not be too concerned with Kuminga’s injury history.