Kristaps Porzingis trade grades for Warriors, Hawks after Jonathan Kuminga swap

Jonathan Kuminga has finally been freed from the Golden State Warriors. In the end, Golden State got a valuable if unreliable player on an expiring contract in return for their dissatisfied forward by waiting until the trade deadline to deal him.

The Warriors acquired Kristaps Porzingis from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Kuminga and Buddy Hield, according to ESPN insider Shams Charania. Kuminga had been stuck in trade rumors dating back to his prolonged restricted free agency over the summer, and now he gets the fresh start in Atlanta he’s been seeking. The Warriors also traded Trayce Jackson-Davis to the Toronto Raptors for a 2026 second-round pick originally owned by the Los Angeles Lakers shortly after the deal, according to Charania.

Most of the Warriors chatter leading up to the deadline focused on their pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Is that over for now? Let’s grade this surprising trade for both sides.

Porzingis hasn’t been playing much dating back to last season with the Boston Celtics. He’s battled illness after being diagnosed with POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), a nervous system disorder that causes rapid heart rate and dizziness.

This season Porzingis has only played in 18 of Atlanta’s 58 games. When he’s been on the floor, he’s graded out incredibly well in the advanced metrics: he’s 11th in the entire league in EPM because he’s the rare player who ranks above the 90th percentile in effectiveness on both ends of the floor. Porzingis hasn’t actually been available enough to help Atlanta, but it hints at what he can do if he could ever stay healthy.

The advanced numbers overstate Porzingis’ impact, obviously. No one who has watched the Hawks this year believes he’s close to a top-10 player in the league. At the same time, Porzingis has a unique skill set as a 7’3 big man who can block shots and stroke three-pointers at an elite rate for his position. His 4.8 percent block rate this season is a huge number that ranks in the 91st percentile of all bigs. He’s also making 36 percent of his threes on nearly 10 attempts per 100 possessions.

Porzingis mostly grades out so well because he doesn’t turn the ball over at all. Possessions are important, people! He’s been a low turnover player his entire career, but he’s about to enter an offensive system that requires its bigs to make quick passing reads. He’s never played in anything like Steve Kerr’s offense before, and it will probably take time to adjust … if he can even stay healthy enough for this trade to matter.

Porzingis’ $30.7 million deal comes off the books this summer, meaning Golden State immediately improved its rotation without taking on any long-term risk. Could they have really gotten something better for Kuminga? I don’t think so. Porzingis may never make an impact for Golden State because he can’t get on the floor, but he’s still pretty good if his health situation changes, and that would add an impact player to a Warriors front court that needs it.

The fact that the Warriors also got off Buddy Hield’s final two years in this deal is even more impressive. That alone is a big win for Golden State, and getting a player like Porzingis is just icing on the cake.

Grade: A

Porzingis wasn’t in Atlanta’s long-term plans, and it was known for a while the team wanted to trade him in-season. Kuminga is an interesting return as a physically talented forward who has never been able to fully put everything together. Kuminga wasn’t a good enough decision-maker, shooter, or defender to earn Steve Kerr’s trust, and that had him pouting on the sidelines for most of his Warriors tenure. He needed a change of scenery, and Atlanta provides that.

Kuminga and Jalen Johnson could give the Hawks a huge wing tandem if he is in their long-term plans. Atlanta’s future is mostly tied to if they get lottery luck with the New Orleans Pelicans’ pick they wisely acquired at last year’s draft. The Hawks feel like they’re under construction after the Trae Young trade, so it’s hard to make any assumptions about what this team looks like next year. For now, Kuminga will probably get a chance to run the floor and get buckets as Atlanta probably sneaks into the play-in tournament.

The most surprising thing about this trade is Atlanta was willing to take on the last two years of Buddy Hield’s deal. He makes $9.6 million next year and then $10 million 2027-28. Hield has a true bad contract, and I don’t think Kuminga is good enough to take on that money.

Grade: C-