Grading Kristaps Porziņģis, Jonathan Kuminga NBA Trade Deadline Deal Between Warriors and Hawks

Jonathan Kuminga is, at long last, no longer a member of the Golden State Warriors.

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, Kuminga along with Buddy Hield is headed to the Atlanta Hawks for Kristaps Porziņģis—who is, notably, not Giannis Antetokounmpo. But more on that shortly.

Both Kuminga and the Warriors appear to get what they want—what they need. Kuminga secures his fresh start. Golden State nabs a floor-spacing 5 who, when healthy, won't be a defensive weak point.

How does this move grade out for the Hawks as a team? What does it mean for the Warriors? Another batch of trade grades is coming your way to figure it out.

Atlanta Hawks: C

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Kristaps Porziņģis' availability has not been great this season, which is why the Hawks were a candidate to go out and trade for another big man in the first place. Instead, they flipped a center for a cursory look at a combo forward, a guard and no bigs. 

Atlanta's offense has not looked so hot since the Trae Young trade—and to be sure, it wasn't any great shakes before that. Jonathan Kuminga has on-ball moments that make you go "Whoa," and Buddy Hield can buoy the team's efficiency with his gravity. Overall, though, this feels…aimless.

Minimal harm will be incurred if that's the case. Kuminga has a team option for next season while Hield is guaranteed just $3 million. The Hawks could also view their salaries as vessels through which they make a bigger trade over the summer. They did not have that option with Kristaps Porziņģis, who is entering unrestricted free agency.

Planning that far ahead would be interesting. It could potentially prove genius. The immediate basketball implications just don't inspire much confidence. Kuminga isn't a good enough shooter to ensure he won't prove redundant alongside any combination of Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher, and at least for the time being, depth at the 5 is reaching uncomfortable levels of dependence on N'Faly Dante and Christian Koloko.

Maybe the Hawks have another move up their sleeve now. Or perhaps head coach Quin Snyder figures out how to coax an alchemy of play-finishing, consistent rebounding, defense and shooting from Kuminga that Golden State never could. Color me skeptical. This seems more like an attempt to acquire offseason salary ballast than anything else.

Golden State Warriors: A

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This trade would have hit much differently if Jimmy Butler never suffered a torn ACL. Porziņģis' availability is a coin-toss proposition, but his meld of rim protection and floor-spacing would be ideal for lineups featuring both Butler and Draymond Green.

To be fair, the KP-Draymond frontcourt remains super intuitive. Porziņģis just can't float the minutes without Stephen Curry that Butler could. That's fine, especially given what the Warriors gave up.

Kuminga became a lost cause for this team, and Hield has tumbled down the nightly pecking order. Porziņģis can also ferry some self-creation from the mid-post, and he compromises neither the floor-spacing nor defense in fuller strength lineups. Amid admittedly limited playing time, KP joins Victor Wembanyama as the only centers averaging over 20.0 points, 1.5 made threes and 1.5 blocks per 36 minutes.

The real headline here has nothing to do with any of the players involved. Shipping out Kuminga makes it so the Warriors cannot acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo ahead of Thursday's deadline without including Butler. Previous iterations could be built around JK, Draymond and other salaries.

Does this mean that Giannis isn't getting moved by the deadline? That the Dubs are out of the running? Both? 

Either way, it shouldn't impact their grade. Golden State doesn't make this move unless it believes Giannis is out of play or it prefers permutations that use Butler as matching salary.

Frustrations over the Warriors failing to attach more assets to Kuminga as part of a bigger swing are valid gripes. Absent Giannis, though, these scenarios went out the window with Butler's injury. This is a nice in-between.

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Dan Favale is a National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.