Four months after acquiring Jonathan Kuminga, the Atlanta Hawks are already testing what he might be worth on the open market.
HoopsHype's Michael Scotto reported that Atlanta has done its homework on the 23-year-old forward ahead of next week's draft. "The Hawks have conducted their due diligence and gauged Kuminga's value on the trade market ahead of the draft, league sources told HoopsHype," Scotto wrote, adding that the forward returning to Atlanta next season "remains a real possibility."
The timing is driven by the calendar. The Hawks face a June 29 deadline to decide on Kuminga's $24.3 million team option for 2026-27. Jackson Caudell of SI's All Hawks expects the team to pick it up regardless of its trade plans, because keeping the option alive preserves flexibility: Atlanta can hold him, fold the salary into a deal, or use it as a matching expiring contract.
What Atlanta actually wants, Caudell argued, is help in the middle. "If Atlanta opts to move him, it is likely going to be for a player that fills the need at center or guard," he wrote, floating names such as Milwaukee's Myles Turner, Brooklyn's Nic Claxton and Dallas's Daniel Gafford as fits alongside Trae Young.
Kuminga arrived from Golden State at February's trade deadline after a long contract standoff with the Warriors, and the early returns in Atlanta were encouraging. He averaged 12.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 16 regular-season games as the Hawks' top reserve, then raised his level in the postseason. Against the eventual champion New York Knicks in the first round, Kuminga averaged 13.7 points and scored 40 combined points across Atlanta's two wins in the series.
The forward's value has been a moving target. A year ago he was at the center of a tense restricted free-agency standoff in Golden State before the sides reached a deal that ultimately set up the move to Atlanta. Now he is a 23-year-old coming off a strong playoff cameo and attached to a reasonable one-year number, a profile that can appeal to contenders chasing wing depth and rebuilders hunting upside alike.
That playoff flash is exactly why a return is still on the table, and why rival teams are circling. On the Sactown Sports 1140 show in Sacramento, hosts noted the Kings remain a logical suitor to check in again, given their long-running interest, while cautioning that this round of chatter carries far less smoke and fire than the saga that surrounded Kuminga last summer. They laid out the mechanics plainly: Atlanta could explore a sign-and-trade, or simply exercise the $24.3 million option and move it as an expiring deal.
For now, the Hawks are gathering information rather than forcing a resolution. Picking up the option keeps every door open, and with the draft on June 23 and free agency to follow, Kuminga's name is likely to keep surfacing until Atlanta decides whether the player who showed up in the playoffs is worth more to them than the center they covet.
