NBA trade deadline 2026 live tracker, updates: Warriors trade Jonathan Kuminga for Kristaps Porziņģis
The favorable terms on both Jonathan Kuminga’s and Buddy Hield’s contracts give the Hawks a lot of offseason flexibility. The Hawks can decline Kuminga’s $24.3 million team option and sign him to a new, longer-term deal, play it out and work with him and full Bird rights the following summer or move on if Kuminga doesn’t work out.
Similarly, Hield has a partial guarantee for $3 million next season on a salary of $9.7 million; it becomes fully guaranteed one day after the draft. Atlanta likely needs his shooting, but the Hawks can also basically vaporize his contract via the stretch provision because there’s an additional 2027-28 season on the deal; if so, he would take up just $600,000 on the cap.
Basketball-wise, Atlanta has addressed its lack of available size by adding a big forward in Kuminga and a burly center in Jock Landale (acquired from Utah earlier in the day for mere cash considerations). It added much-needed shooting with Landale and Hield. The Hawks are still nearly $6 million below the tax line and have a large trade exception that could allow them to make more deals before 3 p.m. ET Thursday, but if not, they are in position to be players in the buyout market to add two veterans.
Atlanta will need to waive a player to complete its trade with Golden State but hardly lacks for candidates; the Hawks have two players on expiring deals who are out of the season (Duop Reath and N’Faly Dante) and a third (Nikola Đurišić) who has not been active once the entire season.
