The Golden State Warriors finally pulled the trigger on a trade Wednesday night, and it wasn’t one that anyone expected. Late in the evening, on the eve of the trade deadline, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Warriors had traded Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for stretch center Kristaps Porziņģis. In a separate deal made to clear the cap space for the move, the Warriors sent third-year center Trayce Jackson-Davis to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for a second-round
draft pick.
It’s an interesting move for the Warriors, as Porziņģis is on an expiring contract that pays him $30.7 million. It could be that the Warriors are hoping to pair his contract with Draymond Green’s in a potential trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, or it could that they just want to see Porziņģis’ fit with the team before potentially re-signing him over the offseason. Porziņģis has full Bird Rights, meaning the Warriors will be able to go over the tax this offseason to re-sign him.
There’s no doubt that Porziņģis — who was an All-Star in 2017-18 — brings an intriguing look to the Warriors, assuming he stays on the roster. He’s 7’2, athletic, and defensively strong, but also is a career 36.6% shooter from downtown. He’s having a poor year by his standards, but is still averaging 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game, though injuries have limited him to just 17 games.
Injuries are one of the biggest issues for Porziņģis, as he’s only played 60 games once in the last nine seasons. And, unfortunately, no story of Porziņģis can be told without mentioned the rape allegations against him from 2019.
As for the outgoing pieces, it’s the end of a long roller-coaster journey for Kuminga, who should get a chance to play a steady role on a semi-rebuilding Hawks team. It will be great to see if he can run with the opportunity. Hield, who was a favorite in the locker room and with the fans — and the closest player on the team to Jimmy Butler III — will be missed. The Warriors do open up a pair of roster spots with the moves, which will presumably be used to convert Pat Spencer’s two-way contract into a guaranteed deal.
