The Golden State Warriors re-signed Jonathan Kuminga to a two-year, $48.5 million deal over the offseason with the intention of trading him before the deadline, not because they were in favor of keeping him around. This summer, though, the Hawks could give the forward a long-term deal (subscription required), as Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported on Thursday:
"There is mutual interest, league sources say, for the Hawks to potentially decline their 2026-27 team option on Kuminga valued at $24.3 million in order for the sides to hash out a longer-term agreement."
Kuminga told Fischer that it's "the goal" for him to help construct the Hawks into a lasting contender. He added, "It starts now. We're not waiting until next year." Well, he's not lying, as Atlanta has won 11 straight games and is just a half-game back from No. 6 Orlando.
Kuminga and Hawks have 'mutual interest' in long-term deal
He's played only six games since the trade, missing a few contests due to the knee injury he suffered in his final game with the Warriors. So far, Kuminga is averaging 14.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.0 steals, shooting 56.6% from the field and 58.3% from deep. He's started in just one of those contests.
You can't draw any major conclusions from a small sample size, but those numbers are encouraging enough that Atlanta is looking ahead. Kuminga already has a sense of stability with the Hawks that he didn't get from the Warriors.
It helps that Atlanta's system isn't built solely around one or two star players, as the Warriors' is with Steph Curry. The Hawks opted to shake things up at the deadline by trading away Trae Young, ushering in a new era highlighted by their All-Star Jalen Johnson.
Speaking of Johnson, there are still unanswered questions about how Kuminga and Johnson will fit together (as the latter is the priority, of course), but as Fischer pointed out, that duo works well in transition.
Atlanta likes what it has seen so far. If the Hawks didn't think Kuminga could work off Johnson, they probably wouldn't have traded for him to begin with (you can argue it still would've been worth a shot), and certainly wouldn't be thinking about keeping him around.
Kuminga could sign a new contract for the second offseason in a row, but this time, circumstances would be different than what they were last summer. For starters, it wouldn't be like he was being held somewhere against his own will.
Truthfully, it's nice to see things working out for Kuminga and the Hawks, even at the expense of the Warriors.