Hawks Notes: Kuminga, Hield, Landale, Okongwu, Saleh
Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh has a background with the Warriors, so he pounced on the opportunity to trade for Jonathan Kuminga, writes Angelina Martin of NBC Sports Bay Area. Before going to Atlanta, Saleh spent three years in Golden State’s front office, giving him a first-hand look at Kuminga’s potential.
“I was there for, I think, [Kuminga’s] first three years,” he said. “For us, [the trade] made sense given our timeline and what we’re trying to do. I think a 23-year-old with a ton of potential — I think the things that he helps us with are his rim pressure that he puts on. He’s a phenomenal athlete. He’s a good rebounder. I think in transition, he could be absolutely phenomenal, and he adds size at the wing position if we ever need to add another defender to guard one of these bigger wings in the league. So, I’m really excited about Jonathan.”
After years of looking for a fresh start, Kuminga finally got his wish on Thursday when the Hawks acquired him and Buddy Hield in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis. Kuminga is currently dealing with a bone bruise in his left knee that will sideline him through the All-Star break, but the team is confident he’ll be able to produce when he returns.
Saleh also welcomes the outside shooting that Hield can provide and said his “hilarious” personality will be good to have in the locker room.
There’s more from Atlanta:
- Jock Landale made a strong impression in his debut with the Hawks, delivering 26 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four blocks in Thursday’s win over Utah. He was in Memphis when the trade was announced and turned down the team’s offer for a flight, opting to make the 5 1/2-hour drive to Atlanta instead, according to Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). “I kind of said, if I’m looking to play that next night, I want to get there as soon as possible,” Landale said. “So loaded up the truck and hit the road.”
- The Hawks sent $3MM to the Jazz in the Landale trade, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks at Sports Business Classroom. The cash amount wasn’t specified when the deal was announced.
- Onyeka Okongwu returned Saturday after missing four games with a dental fracture, per Brad Rowland of Locked on Hawks (Twitter link). The only player remaining on the injured list for the contest was Kuminga.
- Prior to the game, Saleh spoke to the media about his strategy at the deadline, Rowland adds (Twitter link). “Everything is future forward,” he said. “We didn’t want the flexibility that we created at the start of the season to be impacted by the deadline, and we felt like we maintained that flexibility.” Saleh also talked about preserving “optionality” for the summer.
How Belated Details Added New Context To Two Minor Deadline Deals
Here at Hoops Rumors, we pride ourselves on making sure that every single asset that changes hands in a trade shows up in our breakdown of that deal -- even the ones so minor that the term "asset" hardly applies.
In some cases, tracking that information is pretty simple. For instance, the Warriors and Hawks made it easy on us on Wednesday when they agreed to swap Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield for Kristaps Porzingis in a deal that included no draft picks, no cash, no draft-rights players, and no additional pieces at all besides those three players.
In other instances, it's trickier, with certain missing pieces revealed belatedly, well after a trade has been agreed upon -- or even well after it has been officially finalized and announced.
On Thursday evening, for example, I spent way too much time trying to track down the details on what the Cavaliers got back from the Jazz in the trade that sent Lonzo Ball and a pair of second-round picks to Utah. Even when those two teams formally announced the trade in press releases, neither the Cavs nor the Jazz included any mention of what was headed from Utah to Cleveland.
In most cases, those missing details end up very minor. Case in point: We eventually learned on Friday that the Jazz sent $110K to Cleveland in the Ball trade. If they were going to include cash as their outgoing piece, that was the absolute minimum amount the Jazz could've sent to make the deal legal.
"Fake" second-round picks - second-rounders that include top-55 protection - are another type of minor asset often reported well after the fact. That was the case when the Celtics traded Xavier Tillman Sr. and $3.5MM in cash to Charlotte in a last-minute deal on Thursday. The inclusion of Tillman and the cash was reported at the same time, but it wasn't until the Hornets announced the trade about seven hours later that we learned they'd sent the Celtics a top-55 protected 2030 second-round pick to complete the transaction.
That heavily protected second-round pick didn't change our understanding of the Celtics/Hornets swap, just like the revelation that the Jazz had sent out $110K in the Ball deal didn't reshape our perception of the pros and cons of that move for Utah and Cleveland.
However, there were a couple belatedly reported trade details this week that did add new context to those relatively minor deals.
Kobe Sanders Receives Standard Contract From Clippers
The Clippers have promoted two-way player Kobe Sanders to a standard contract, the team announced (via Twitter).
According to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link), Sanders’ new deal will be a two-year, minimum-salary contract that features a team option for 2026/27.
The 23-year-old shooting guard has become a productive member of L.A.’s rotation in his first NBA season. Through 43 games, he’s averaging 7.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 21.5 minutes per night with .448/.381/.814 shooting numbers.
Sanders agreed to the two-way contract after being selected with the 50th pick in last year’s draft. The Clippers acquired him in a draft night trade with New York.
With just 13 players holding standard contracts, L.A. was nearing its “under-15” limit for two-way players to be active. A team carrying fewer than 15 players on its standard roster can only use players on two-way contracts for up to 90 combined games.
Sanders’ promotion and the expected signing of Dalano Banton to a 10-day contract will remove that concern, at least through the All-Star break.
When Banton’s 10-day deal expires, the Clippers will have to re-fill that 15th roster spot to ensure two-way player Jordan Miller can remain active — Miller himself could be promoted into that spot.
Suns Notes: Anthony, Coffey, Booker, Green, Allen, Livers
The Suns acquired Cole Anthony and Amir Coffey from Milwaukee in a three-team trade on Thursday, but Anthony hasn’t reported yet and may decide not to. He is listed as “not with team” for tonight’s meeting with Philadelphia, and coach Jordan Ott addressed the situation during his pregame session with the media, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link).
“I think they’re still determining that. Working through that as we speak,” Ott said.
Anthony has a $2.3MM expiring contract and can’t join another team unless Phoenix releases him or negotiates a buyout. The trade with the Bucks was a cost-cutting move and the Suns have a lot of guards on their roster, so it’s possible they’ll be open to either option.
Anthony, 25, was sent from Orlando to Memphis last summer as part of the Desmond Bane trade, then signed with the Bucks after being waived. He appeared in 35 games with Milwaukee, averaging 6.7 PPG while shooting 42.4% from the field and a career-worst 30.6% from three-point range.
Coffey, meanwhile, welcomes his new opportunity in Phoenix, Rankin tweets.
“I’m excited. I’m excited,” he said. “I know it’s always weird around the deadline trying to wait to see what’s going to happen, but definitely blessed to be in this position.”
There’s more on the Suns:
- Ott said it was tough to part with Nick Richards and Nigel Hayes-Davis, who were sent out in the deal, Rankin writes in a full story. The Suns’ head coach credited both players for helping the team surpass expectations. “They’re such great teammates,” he said. “They were part of the good vibes that we have going. Incredible workers, even when they were out of the rotation, they were super helpful for our group. Playing in the ‘stay ready’ runs.”
- Devin Booker and Jalen Green will both be active tonight, although they’ll be on minutes restrictions, Rankin states in another piece. Booker has missed the last seven games with a right ankle sprain, while Green has only been available five times all season, mostly due to an injured right hamstring. He was sidelined for the past three games after a hard fall that affected his back and hip.
- Grayson Allen, who has a right knee sprain, and two-way player Isaiah Livers, who’s dealing with a sprained left shoulder, will both be reevaluated after the All-Star break, Rankin adds.
Warriors Notes: Green, Curry, Porzingis, Horford
Draymond Green had a conversation with Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. about potentially being traded to Milwaukee as part of a Giannis Antetokounmpo deal, writes Angelina Martin of NBC Sports Bay Area. Green revealed Saturday on his podcast that Dunleavy sought his input on a couple of trades he was considering and was straightforward about the possibility that Green could wind up with the Bucks.
“And we talked for quite a while, and then he’s like, ‘And by the way, on the honest front, obviously, we spoke about Giannis,'” Green relayed. “‘We talked about what picks we’d send them. We haven’t talked about, really, the players that would go into the deal, but obviously, if we were to do a deal with Giannis, you or Jimmy (Butler) would have to be in the trade just to make it work.'”
Green has heard his name in rumors before, but said he felt like he might actually get traded this time. He held a long session with reporters after Tuesday’s game, just in case it was his final appearance in a Warriors uniform.
Green added that the talk with Dunleavy left him with a lot of questions.
“Future, uncertain, getting traded to Milwaukee,” he said. “If I’m getting traded to Milwaukee, am I staying in Milwaukee? If I’m not staying in Milwaukee, where am I going? If I’m only going there for half a season, is my family coming? What the hell is going on?”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Stephen Curry will miss his third straight game tonight with a knee injury, and coach Steve Kerr suggested that he might be held out through the All-Star break, according to Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link). Kerr said Curry is doubtful for Monday’s home contest with Memphis. The team’s final game before the break will be Wednesday against San Antonio.
- Kristaps Porzingis, who was acquired from Atlanta on Thursday, will continue working out in San Francisco with a goal of debuting when the All-Star break ends, Slater adds (Twitter link). Porzingis is dealing with an Achilles issue and hasn’t played since January 7. He was surprised to be traded to Golden State, but called it “a great opportunity to turn a new page,” per Nick Friedell of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- In an interview with Friedell, Al Horford admits there was a lot of “tension” affecting the team in the days leading up to the trade deadline. “I feel like our guys, everybody tried to be professional and good, but I know that gets thrown around a lot, be professional and good, but there’s a human aspect to it, that it’s always difficult to deal with,” Horford said. “On some teams, you deal with it more than others, and this team we were all kind of up in the air. So it was very stressful here the last few days.”
Celtics Notes: Vucevic, Tatum, Roster Openings, Pritchard
Nikola Vucevic only had one practice to get acclimated to the Celtics before making his debut with the team Friday night, but he had no trouble fitting into the new system, writes Brian Robb of MassLive. Vucevic played 28 minutes — the most of any Boston center — finishing with 11 points and 12 rebounds while helping to erase a 22-point deficit in a win over Miami.
“I thought he did a great job from the day he got to Boston right to tip off preparing,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Preparing for everything — our language, our coverages, what we needed to do. I thought he put himself in position to help us. And then I think credit to the guys for having a quick understanding about why we acquired him and how he can make us better, and how we can help to make him better.”
Vucevic has been connected to the Celtics in trade rumors in the past, notes Souichi Terada of MassLive, and he believes he can help the team as a floor-spacing big man. None of the centers that Boston has been using this season have the offensive capabilities that Vucevic brings.
“I look at it as it motivates me to try to get to a higher level,” he said of the trade from Chicago at Thursday’s deadline. “I am 35 but I still feel like I have a lot left in the tank and can still play at a high level. So having an opportunity to play in the playoffs and play for something big, I think it’s extra motivation for everybody. I’m just excited to have the opportunity. I never really had it in my career.”
There’s more from Boston:
- It’s possible Jayson Tatum could return at some point this season, but president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said that had “very little impact” on the moves he made at the deadline, per Jay King of The Athletic. Stevens targeted Vucevic to upgrade the frontcourt and was able to dump the salaries of Xavier Tillman, Chris Boucher and Josh Minott to move below the tax deadline. “The best time for Jayson Tatum to come back is when he’s 110 percent healthy, he’s fully cleared by everybody that matters in that decision, and he’s got great peace of mind and he’s ready to do it. That’s it,” Stevens said. “That’s the objective, and that’s what we’re going to stick with.”
- The Celtics dropped down to 11 players after the deadline and have until February 19 to get back to the league minimum of 14. One of those openings was filled by promoting two-way big man Amari Williams, and his new minimum-salary contract includes a team option for next season, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
- Stevens offered some insight into his plans for filling the other two slots, Robb adds in a separate story. The team will take a close look at its remaining two-way players, including John Tonje, who was acquired from Utah on Thursday.
- Payton Pritchard returned to a sixth-man role in the revamped lineup after starting in his first 48 appearances this season, King notes in another piece. “That benefits our team more,” Pritchard said. “It puts another ball-handler off the bench. At the end of the day, it’s about, do you play starter minutes, do you finish games? I don’t really care about starting. If you want me to start, I’ll start. If you want me to come off the bench, it doesn’t matter. So it’s just about, when you get in, what do you do with your minutes? So that’s what I was focused on today.”
- Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (subscription required) examines the financial impact of the Celtics’ moves and how they’ll affect the future.
Bulls Notes: Deadline, Karnisovas, Donovan, Yabusele, Dillingham
The Bulls were extremely active this week, making seven trades prior to Thursday’s deadline. Vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas says Chicago wasn’t content with “being in the middle” after making the play-in tournament each of the last three seasons and getting eliminated in the first round of the 2022 playoffs.
“The play-in is not our goal,” Karnisovas said, per Jamal Collier of ESPN. “A championship is. We know where we are in standings, and we are not satisfied with being in the middle as an organization or for our fans. At the same time, we are committed to building the right way without skipping steps. This process takes time, but we’ve already made [a] meaningful shift in how we are approaching roster building and development.”
While Karnisovas didn’t use the term rebuild when discussing the Bulls’ roster reconstruction, he acknowledged the team is now prioritizing young players, acquiring draft capital and maintaining financial flexibility, Collier writes. Karnisovas singled out Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue as members of the team’s core going forward.
According to Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune, Karnisovas has downplayed the importance of second-round picks in the past, but he shifted his tune during Thursday’s video press conference after the Bulls added eight second-round selections in their several trades.
“Second-rounders are a currency in our industry, and you cannot operate and acquire players and trade players (without them),” Karnišovas said. “We addressed it during the trade deadline and hopefully they’re going to contribute during the draft, during free agency and trying to build this team.”
Here’s more from Chicago:
- As Poe writes, the front office has had multiple transaction windows in which to sell high on players like Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu (and boost the team’s lottery odds in the process), but waited until they were both headed to unrestricted free agency — when their values were at a relative low point — to deal them away. Karnisovas defended the decision, saying, “You don’t want to lose you free agents for nothing,” and said he didn’t regret making the moves when he did. “I do not,” Karnisovas said. “I think we were at that stage as well, we continued evaluating our young guys. Right now it’s a good timing, and we addressed it.”
- Head coach Billy Donovan made it clear he’s committed to staying with the Bulls in the midst of the rebuild, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “I’ve talked to you guys about what’s important to me is the mentality, the competitiveness, that kind of stuff, and things can happen quickly too,” Donovan said. “Look at what Detroit was able to do. They were really bad for a while and they took off and have done really well. You look at a team like Boston, where they shed a bunch of salary cap and people thought they weren’t going to be any good and now they’re second in the East, so things can happen pretty quickly.”
- While the roster looks much different, the front office and ownership remain the same, and they were the main issues over the past several years, argues Jon Greenberg of The Athletic. Greenberg gives Karnisovas credit for finally biting the bullet and making long-overdue trades, but is skeptical the results will be much different down the line. Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune also questions whether Karnisovas has a plan to lead the team out of mediocrity.
- Guerschon Yabusele waived his $5.8MM player option for next season as part of being traded to the Bulls because he may have been stuck in New York past the deadline if he hadn’t and he wanted an opportunity to play again, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv. The French forward got his wish in his first game as a Bull, recording season highs of 15 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and 33 minutes in Thursday’s loss to Toronto, per Toni Canyameras of BasketNews. “I guess in the summer we’ll figure out what happens. I did give up the player option because I wanted to play basketball at the end of the day. That’s what I was really motivated about, getting out there, having some minutes tonight. It was amazing for me, I’m so happy,” Yabusele said. “I’m a little bit sad because we lost, but just being out there with those guys, it’s been amazing.”
- 2024 lottery pick Rob Dillingham is hoping to regain his confidence with Chicago after rarely playing for Minnesota over his first two seasons. “Really just confidence, confidence from my teammates, confidence from my coaches, and really confidence in myself,” Dillingham said (Twitter video link via Will Gottlieb of CHGO Bulls. “I really just feel like I haven’t got to get an opportunity where I feel confident. I’m just waiting for the spark to come back.” The 21-year-old guard was acquired from the Wolves in the Dosunmu trade.
Hawks’ Jonathan Kuminga Out Through All-Star Break
New Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga will be reevaluated after the All-Star break due to the bone bruise in his left knee, the team announced today (Twitter link via Brad Rowland of Locked On Hawks).
The 23-year-old hyperextended his left knee in a January 22 loss to Dallas, which turned out to be his final game with Golden State. Kuminga was traded to Atlanta along with Buddy Hield in the deal that sent Kristaps Porzingis to the Warriors.
Kuminga will miss Atlanta’s next three games (vs. Charlotte, at Minnesota, and at Charlotte) because of the knee injury. The earliest he could make his Hawks debut would be February 19 at Philadelphia, the team’s first game after the break.
The former No. 7 overall pick demanded a trade out of Golden State on January 15, the first day he was eligible to be moved. While Kuminga was expecting to be dealt, he was “shocked” he landed with the Hawks, a source tells Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area (story via Johnson’s colleague Ali Thanawalla). Atlanta wasn’t a team his camp kept in contact with, but he’s looking forward to the fresh start, per Johnson.
Kuminga could be an unrestricted free agent this summer — his contract features a $24.3MM team option for 2026/27. Atlanta will have until June 30 to decide whether it wants to exercise that option.
Warriors, Nuggets Eyeing Lonzo Ball
3:00 pm: Multiple teams have requested access to review Ball’s medical records, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link). Pending review of said records, Ball is likely to land with Golden State, according to Fischer, who confirms the Nuggets expressed interest in Ball too (Twitter link)
12:55 pm: In addition to working to convert Pat Spencer from a two-way deal to a standard contract, the Warriors are also interested in signing Lonzo Ball, reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (via Twitter).
Fischer’s Stein Line colleague Marc Stein hears Ball is expected to land in the Western Conference (Twitter link). Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints confirms Golden State is interested in Ball, and says the Nuggets are a “serious suitor” for the 28-year-old guard as well (Twitter link).
Both the Warriors (13) and Nuggets (13) have two openings on their 15-man standard rosters and will need to get back up to 14 within two weeks.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft, Ball has dealt with a variety of health issues over the course of his career, most notably a left knee injury which caused him to undergo three surgeries and to miss two-and-a-half seasons. The 6’5″ guard spent the first several months of 2025/26 with the Cavaliers, who traded him (and two second-round picks) to the Jazz in a salary-dump move prior to Thursday’s deadline.
Ball was cut by Utah on Thursday after the deal was completed, making him an unrestricted free agent as soon as he clears waivers.
Ball, whom Cleveland acquired last summer in a trade that sent Isaac Okoro to Chicago, struggled mightily with his shot in his lone season with the Cavs, averaging a career-low 4.6 points on a career-worst .301/.272/.667 shooting line in 20.8 minutes per game across 35 appearances. He also chipped in 4.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
Those shooting splits are somewhat misleading, as nearly 84% of Ball’s field goal attempts have been three-pointers, but obviously 27.2% is a poor mark from beyond the arc and well below his career rate (35.5%).
As for Spencer, the 6’2″ point guard reached his 50-game active limit in Thursday’s comeback win at Phoenix. He certainly made a strong case for a promotion in that victory, recording a team-high 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals in 32 minutes with Stephen Curry sidelined due to a knee injury.
Overall, the 29-year-old has averaged 5.8 PPG, 2.9 APG and 2.2 RPG on .423/.431/.833 shooting in 36 games (14.4 MPG).
Wizards’ Anthony Davis Expected To Miss Rest Of Season
February 7: A league source confirms to Aldridge, Sam Amick and Josh Robbins of The Athletic that Davis is unlikely to play again this season. The Wizards are expected to give a formal update on his status in the coming days.
When asked about Haynes’ report on Saturday, head coach Brian Keefe said, “I can’t confirm that, no,” tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
February 6: Wizards big man Anthony Davis, who was traded from Dallas to Washington ahead of Thursday’s deadline, is expected to sit out the rest of the 2025/26 season to fully recover from groin and hand injuries, league sources tell NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).
Davis had been on the trade block in Dallas for much of the season, but there was some doubt about whether a deal would materialize after he suffered ligament damage to his left hand, an injury which was expected to sideline him for at least most of February, if not beyond that. Rumored suitors like Atlanta and Toronto appeared to back off to some extent, opening the door for a surprise team like the Wizards to make a deal.
Davis, who has a lengthy injury history, has been plagued by multiple ailments (adductor, eye, calf, groin, hand) since he was traded to Dallas last February. In 20 games this season, he averaged 20.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.7 blocks in 31.3 minutes per contest.
The former No. 1 overall pick is on a maximum-salary contract that runs through 2027/28, with a $62.8MM player option for that final season.
The Wizards are incentivized to lose as many games as possible down the stretch to retain their 2026 first-round pick, which is top-eight protected, and improve their odds of landing one of the draft’s prized prospects. Trae Young (knee, quad) has yet to play for the Wizards after they traded for the star point guard last month.
GM Will Dawkins said in an interview at the end of January that Young was out through the All-Star break, but stressed the team wasn’t shutting him down for the season. That doesn’t appear to apply to Davis, however.
In an exclusive phone interview with David Aldridge of The Athletic, Davis said he had a “great” visit with the Wizards’ ownership and front office on Friday, but the 32-year-old forward/center readily admitted he had questions about how the rebuilding team planned to become a contender.
“At this point in my career, I want to compete for a championship,” Davis said. “Whether that’s here or elsewhere, I have no idea. It’s been phenomenal, everything they’re saying. Everything they’re showing me is nothing short of phenomenal. Now it’s about having an actual conversation about the team.”
While Davis told Aldridge he loved Washington D.C. and was open-minded about the team’s vision for the future, he made it clear his priority is to win as many games as possible going forward.
“It’s hard to say (I would definitely stay in D.C.) without the proper plan,” Davis said. “Obviously, it’s tough right now with the team, right now. It shows with their record, but adding certain pieces, that can change. It’s year by year. They could be the No. 1 team in the East next year.”