According to John Hollinger of The Athletic, the Atlanta Hawks are likely looking to get out of the Jonathan Kuminga business. That opens the door for the Sacramento Kings to renew their long-running quest to add this underutilized forward to the roster in time to help with wing depth issues.
Kuminga has been in the league since 2021 and spent most of his time on the Golden State Warriors' bench. They drafted him in the first round that year, but head coach Steve Kerr had no interest in using him. This was despite the brilliance he showed when he got minutes.
The Warriors finally traded him to the Hawks around the 2026 trade deadline. Kuminga started getting more regular minutes and was showing the Warriors exactly what they missed out on. The problem is that "more" is not the same as "consistent," and Kuminga was still used sporadiacally.
Now, there are questions about how much the Hawks actually want to pay him. That's a problem for Kuminga as he has a team option in his contract that's up. Hollinger expects Atlanta to use that option to pay him a lot less or let him go entirely. And if they do keep him, it's to use him in a trade.
So there's a chance that Kuminga on the Kings could still happen...
It might be time for Scott Perry to give Atlanta's front office a call and see if they can work something out. The Kings have been in the mix for Kuminga's services for well over a year at this point. When Kuminga was negotiating with the Warriors, a move to Sacramento was on the table.
More than that, it was reputed that the Kings were Kuminga's preferred destination if he left Golden State. With the Hawks' interest in Kuminga waning, the opportunity is there if the Kings want it. A year ago, a lot of people weren't convinced Kuminga would be a good fit but things are changing.
Sacramento is in the midst of a full-blown rebuild. So far, the group includes a lot of first to third year players as well as some choice veterans. The upcoming draft will also factor heavily into this process. An experienced young forward like Kuminga would fit the rebuild and provide real wing depth.
There's no guarantees what will happen, but the Kings and Kuminga keep circling each other. The Hawks are rumored to be ready to move on and the Kings are undoubtedly interested in him. Now, the question is how to get the Hawks to take either Domantas Sabonis or Zach LaVine in the deal.
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