As Jonathan Kuminga’s stock rises and Kristaps Porzingis’s falls, the Atlanta Hawks’ shock deadline deal looks better each day.
In his three games in a Hawks uniform, Kuminga has averaged 21.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.7 steals in just 26 minutes a night. He seems to have corrected all the flaws that led him to become a pariah in Golden State, fitting perfectly into Quin Snyder’s egalitarian, ball-movement-focused offensive system and providing a rebounding boost to a team that desperately needed one.
Before Kuminga suited up, the Hawks posted a league-worst rim FG% since CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert entered the lineup. It was a strange phenomenon, as neither McCollum nor Kispert is bad in the paint individually, and Trae Young had hardly played before being traded. Atlanta’s once strong interior presence was simply fading.
Since integrating Kuminga into the lineup, Atlanta has jumped to the sixth-best in FG% within five feet of the rim.
Jalen Johnson was the only player on the team who could reliably create rim opportunities. While Dyson Daniels and Onyeka Okongwu are skilled at getting to the paint, they often pass out after drawing help. Only Johnson could finish through help, which meant teams didn’t have to worry about slashing when he sat.
Kuminga has given Atlanta an additional 26 minutes of rim pressure, transforming the bench offense. Consequently, help defenders have found themselves caught between perimeter shooters and downhill drivers, allowing the offense to flow smoothly.
It is important to note that two of these games were against the injury-riddled Wizards, and the third was against the Trail Blazers, where budding star center Donovan Clingan entered foul trouble early. Still, Kuminga has demonstrated two important developments: individual success and overall team impact.
A change of scenery has not impacted Porzingis as positively
Porzingis, on the other hand, has made headlines for all the wrong reasons. He’s played in just one game since the trade, was ranked the fourth-most overrated player in the league by Bleacher Report, and, in heartbreaking irony, Steve Kerr bungled yet another relationship.
In a radio call, Kerr announced that Porzingis’s condition wasn’t Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), despite Porzingis seemingly confirming the diagnosis to The Athletic before the season began.
Kerr said, "After the trade… I called Onsi Saleh, Atlanta's GM, and I asked, 'Is this POTS story real? ‘He said, 'It's actually not POTS.' So that was misinformation that was out there." Kerr followed with, "I got confirmation that it was not POTS, but it was something else that was really difficult to figure out."
Saleh and Kerr have a relationship from their shared time in Golden State, so it would be natural for Kerr to seek clarity on a confusing health situation. What was irrational was publicly revealing the contents of this call, particularly when Porzingis seems to prefer calling his condition POTS.
As Kuminga and Atlanta have soared and the Warriors have spiralled, Hawks fans can only applaud Saleh for his shrewd decision-making.