If the Golden State Warriors are going to eventually trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, as is their current pursuit, it will not happen with using Jonathan Kuminga as a trade piece with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Warriors are instead sending Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks for Kristaps Porziņģis.
Advertisement
This is a pretty curious move by the Warriors for a multitude of reasons. And it’s a potentially very savvy move by the Hawks, if Kuminga has the potential some of the Warriors organization, but certainly not coach Steve Kerr, sees in him.
What does this trade mean for both franchises? Let’s bust out the red pen and throw down some trade grades for the Warriors and Hawks.
Warriors receive Kristaps Porziņģis
I saw the notification for this trade and immediately had my Brian Windhorst hat on. What’s happening in Golden State? This is an interesting move on several levels, especially when you couple it with the Warriors also sending Trayce Jackson-Davis to the Toronto Raptors for a second-round pick, as The Athletic confirmed. It puts the Warriors a few million dollars under the hard-cap second apron. They were just a couple hundred thousand dollars under it prior. This will allow them to convert Pat Spencer from a two-way deal to a regular contract.
They opened up two roster spots here, but we can fill one of those with the eventual Spencer contract conversion. Does that mean another trade could be coming? Is any of this a precursor to the Giannis pursuit? Is there any world in which the Bucks actually trade their star before this deadline, and would it be to the Warriors for all of those picks, no Kuminga and whatever contracts they cobble together in order to match the money? It doesn’t seem likely. A Giannis move still makes the most sense in the summer.
From a basketball standpoint, Porziņģis does theoretically fill a need. The Warriors have lacked size for… well… years, really. Porziņģis has incredible height, reach and a rare skill set to go with that height and reach. Porziņģis can score at all three levels, which is not something the Warriors have had in a big man, maybe ever. He’s a perfect pick-and-pop big option. He can protect the rim, get alley-oops and score in the midrange. But there are a couple of problems with the Warriors bringing him in.
Advertisement
1) He’s an expiring contract. Usually, you’d make this deal with the confidence that you can extend or utilize him beyond a rental. Of course, the Warriors are operating on different timelines because of the age of their best players and their pursuit of Giannis. Would it really be worth it to extend Porziņģis at 30 years old and potentially throw a wrench in to that ambition? Would he be used in a Giannis trade? Would he be insurance for whoever has to go out in a potential Giannis deal?
{“endpoint”:”https://api-prd-nyt.theathletic.com/graphql”}
2) Does Porziņģis even play much for the Warriors this season? He’s appeared in five games since Nov. 25. That’s five games in over two months. He also hasn’t played over 22 minutes in any of those games. He also hasn’t played in 13 straight games. He’s missed time with this illness that plagued him last season when he was in his last year with Boston. He already has a history of injury problems, but the Hawks only got him for 17 of their 52 games this season. I’m not sure the Warriors can even guarantee Porziņģis will be on the court much the rest of this season.
Granted, they weren’t playing Kuminga or Hield much, so it’s not like they lost real rotation players for Kerr with this deal. I’m just not sure how much they’ve actually acquired the rest of this season when it’s a big man who has only played in 58.5 percent of his career games. The Warriors get a confused lower grade here, but I’m open to it being a precursor to a bigger move that would make more sense.
Grade: C
Hawks receive Jonathan Kuminga, Buddy Hield
Like I mentioned above, the Hawks were not getting really anything out of Porziņģis this season. He’d barely played for them, and they’d already punted on the plan for this season when they moved Trae Young to Washington last month. So the Hawks, as they pursue trying to make the Play-In and the playoffs, are still in a mode for acquiring more talent to utilize for the future. I’m not sure how much they believe in Hield moving forward. He’s a great shooter who has not shot the ball well from deep this season. However, it’s reasonable to believe he’s going to find the shooting stroke again at some point if he gets some regular time on the court.
The Kuminga addition follows the Hawks’ plan over the last year or two: go get some athletic perimeter players. Kuminga has great athletic ability and at times he’s shown he can really score. He just didn’t play basketball in a way Kerr tolerated or even mildly accepted. The Hawks will have a chance to audition Kuminga for their future with him having a team option for next season. Kuminga fits a similar body mold they’ve acquired with guys like Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
Advertisement
Daniels had the advantage of getting time on the court because he’s one of the best defenders in the world. Last year, he showed a lot of improvement on the offensive end of the floor. Alexander-Walker was a big-time success story in Minnesota, and it earned him a contract with the Hawks this past summer. He can play defense, knock down shots and do playmaking for others. Risacher is a project, but could be a shooter or a playmaker at his size. Does Kuminga do anything other than score? Do the Hawks need him to do anything other than score right now? Are they banking on him using that sizable chip Kerr put on his shoulder to prove the Warriors wrong for not using him and investing in him more?
It’s a very low-stakes move for the Hawks with some considerable upside, if Kuminga is the prospect some still believe him to be.
Grade: B