After months of speculation that Jonathan Kuminga was heading to the Sacramento Kings, he and Buddy Hield were traded to the Atlanta Hawks. Kuminga's play so far has been exceptional, proving that Sacramento made another error by letting that deal slip away instead of making it happen.
The 2026 Trade Deadline wasn't exactly the fountain of massive changes Sacramento fans were hoping for. To be fair to the Kings' front office, trying to trade overpriced players with bad contracts like Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis was a long shot, and that's putting it mildly.
Still, hoping for more than acquiring one player who was injured shortly after joining the team doesn't seem like too much to ask. De'Andre Hunter might turn out to be a good addition to the roster, but no one will know until the 2026-2027 NBA Season at this point. He's not going to be back any time soon.
While the front office has made some interesting moves since the deadline passed, Sacramento still needs some big changes to the roster to move forward. What fans keep getting are opportunities that pass the Kings by, a problem that Jonathan Kuminga quite accurately represents.
The Kings missed out on signing a great player
Basically since the end of the 2024-2025 season, the Kings and the Warriors went in circles on Kuminga. He wanted out, but the two front offices couldn't come to a deal. Considering what the Kings had to offer and what the Warriors had to offer, that seems incredibly confusing.
Golden State wanted a center and used Kuminga to get Kristaps Porzingis. Yet, Sacramento had Domantas Sabonis to offer as well as Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroder. They could have done a lot to reinvigorate the Warriors. Well, Ellis and Sabonis, at least. They would have traded Schroder again.
There's no way of knowing for sure how Kuminga would have panned out in Sacramento. He could have been a complete bust. Or, more likely, the Kings would have squandered his potential the way the Warriors did. Honestly, Kuminga is probably better off with the Hawks than the Kings.
All that is known is that the Hawks picked up Kuminga before the deadline, and he's playing great basketball for them. The Kings, on the other hand, have made some small changes but are roughly where they were before the deadline. It's just tough to see the Kings miss another opportunity.