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New Reporting Shows Atlanta Hawks Made Right Move to Trade Kristaps Porzingis
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- New Reporting Shows Atlanta Hawks Made Right Move to Trade Kristaps Porzingis
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
When Jonathan Kuminga left the Atlanta Hawks this offseason for the Minnesota Timberwolves, pundits and fans bashed the Hawks.
Why? Because they traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Golden State Warriors last season to get Kuminga and lost Kuminga for nothing.
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New reporting from ESPN , though, shows that Atlanta -- despite losing Kuminga for nothing -- made the right move by getting rid of Porzingis.
Anthony Slater, who covers the Warriors for ESPN, reports that Porzingis may never play for Golden State again. The big man is actually contemplating his NBA future.
The Warriors are exploring trade routes for Porzingis, who is seriously contemplating his future in basketball as he deals with recurring symptoms from POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome).
Porzingis stated on his X account on October 14 that he was getting better after the Warriors said he remains out indefinitely with a private health-related issue.
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One week later, Porzingis is now thinking about retiring from basketball.
"Hello people, I'm working with doctors and experts to figure out how to be fully back to good health asap," Porzingis wrote. "Honestly, I'm getting better and better. I just have to stay patient, and I believe I'll be feeling great again soon. It has definitely been frustrating dealing with some health stuff that you can't exactly pinpoint, on top of injuries throughout my career, so it has added up for sure, but we will get through it.
"Health is wealth. Thank you for all the support. I appreciate all the internet doctors trying to diagnose and help, but I'm in the best hands. So everyone can relax now and I don't have hiv or aids."
Porzingis has played for the New York Knicks, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, Boston Celtics, Hawks and Warriors. He has career averages of 19.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in the regular season and 11.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in the playoffs.
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A one-time All-Star, Porzingis helped the Celtics beat the Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals.
Porzingis played in just 17 games with the Hawks. He averaged 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
Atlanta lost to New York in the first round of the 2026 playoffs in six games, but remember, the Hawks were the only team to beat the Knicks twice in the 2026 postseason.
That shows how good the Hawks will be moving forward.
Atlanta's future is led by Johnson, who had a fantastic 2025-26 season for the Hawks. He averaged 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game while shooting 48.9% from the field, 35.2% from beyond the arc and 78.8% from the free-throw line.
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Thus far this season, Johnson is putting up 21.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game.
How good is Johnson? Last season, he became the fifth player in league history to put up a season in which he averaged at least 22 points, 10 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game. The other four players on that list? NBA legends Wilt Chamberlain, Nikola Jokic, Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook.
That's amazing company to be in for Johnson.
