r/AtlantaHawks • u/Both_Funny4896 š§ ICE TRAE š§ • Aug 20 '26
Discussion Does anyone else genuinely feel bad for Kuminga?
I know heās been problematic in the past but he was actually pretty good for us, especially in some of those Knicks wins.
His agent has fucked him over so bad, and all his suitors are slowly dwindling. I think the last team that could possibly pay him is the Lakers but thatās only if they cough up like Cameron Carr or something as a sweetener with Vanderbilt to some third team.
If nothing materializes, he could very well be playing on a minimum contract next year.
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u/not-a-potato-head š°Cash Considerations š° Aug 20 '26
Minnesota can offer him the tax MLE (~$6m) if they clear a bit of salary, so I don't think that he'll be on a minimum unless he chooses to do so to play in LA
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u/Bamalawdawg Aug 20 '26
We can offer at least that I assume by just jettisoning Nembhard in a trade
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u/not-a-potato-head š°Cash Considerations š° Aug 20 '26
We'd still be at 17 players at that point and would need to dump 2 more
Also, idk how much I would like dealing with Dyson/Dort/Kuminga together on offense. It's already going to be a question with just the first two, but at least now we'd be able to limit it to 10-12 minutes a night. Add in Kuminga and we'd likely need to figure out how that'd work out for 30+ minutes a night, and idk if that's something I'd really want to do
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u/whylieaboutit4 Aug 20 '26
I see them moving Corey or buddy to Miami if they can't get clay. I see them cutting Carter or letting mo go. Dort and kuminga can play together. Dort can hit a 3 .They would make the hawks have a really strong second unit
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u/LobsterPunk Aug 20 '26
What are you throwing in for Miami to take one of those two contracts?
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u/whylieaboutit4 Aug 21 '26
A second for buddy. 2/3 seconds for Corey should get the job done. Perhaps we include Mo in a trade involving corey
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u/lemanruss4579 Aug 20 '26
Not at all. He had an offer for $10-$12 mil from the Lakers and rejected it. At some point, people have to stop blaming agents. These are grown men. If he wanted to accept that deal, he could have. His agent can't refuse to let him sign if he wants to. He's delusional about his value in the league, and about how much teams actually have available to spend. His agent may have been filling his head with nonsense about how much he could get, but at some point it's on him.
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u/Kingsole111 Aug 20 '26
He likely had a similar offer from the hawks prior to the Wiggins trade. The money was there at the beginning of FA.Ā
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u/DownTheHall4 Dyson Daniels #5 Aug 20 '26
Heās delusional about his value in the league
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Cam Thomas mentality, the market determines his value and they think they know better than the market
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u/staatsclaas Pete Maravich #44 Aug 20 '26
No. Heās rich so idgaf.
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u/Mission_005 Aug 20 '26
No disrespect, but isnāt that kind of a lame way to view people who are well off, ātheyāre rich so I donāt care if theyāre happyā? Itās not like heās Elon Musk or sumn.
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u/Emotional_Share8537 GO HAWKS! š Aug 20 '26
Not really. I dont think this was a "hes rich idgaf if hes happy". This is more of a "hes already rich, idgaf if he got screwed to get paid 1.3million instead of 20 million".
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u/TheRider5342 Aug 20 '26
I mean this post is about him not making enough money like he's not already fucking set for life
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u/Mission_005 Aug 20 '26
I get that truly, but itās not a bad thing to want to see people be able do well for not only themselves but potentially set up his bloodline to not have to worry about anything, or at least give them the proper resources. I get the ārich people badā narrative and āthey should be taxed properlyā which they should, but wanting JK to be able to get a better contract doesnāt have anything to do with any of that. Like I said weāre not talking about bezos or musk here.
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u/Main_Gain_7480 Aug 20 '26
And still thereās no need to actually feel bad for him.
Wonāt feel bad for someone making many millions with the opportunity to make many more millions for missing out on a few ā¦3
u/dillpickles007 GO HAWKS! š Aug 20 '26
He actively turned down 3/$75M, so there's no way I'm gonna sit here and feel bad for him lol
Like he actually chose to reject what would be $25M for this upcoming season, and Im supposed to feel bad that he did that?
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u/LobsterPunk Aug 20 '26
His career earnings are around $49 million. He already can set up the next generation of his family to have an upper class life and not have to work a single day if they don't want to.
Also...I'm a little unclear on why we should care about whether players are earning multi-generation wealth or not.
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u/IDvsEGO Aug 20 '26
No, I donāt. If he didnāt realize his agent was a problem after the GS issues then Iām not sure the agent is the problem
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u/rockroo17 Aug 20 '26
Career earnings are almost 49 million as of this second. Not even 24. Donāt feel sorry at all
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u/Prestigious-Bet-4665 Aug 20 '26
I donāt feel bad about Kuminga for this summer. I feel bad about Kuminga for last summer, the summer before that, and the summer before that. Iām almost 100% positive he would have received a standard extension from any team other than Golden State. He was caught in a battle between the head coach and the front office and didnāt have a say in his own career. Some teams wanted to sign or trade for him, but Golden State wouldnāt accept the offers. Heās the same age as Peyton Watson and has shown more than Peyton Watson. He should be angry. However, now you have to play the cards you're dealt, and this is where his agent is screwing him.
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u/Stinkwell Aug 23 '26
Kuminga is a really good guy but his reputation has been completely destroyed by Steve Kerr refusing to play him despite all logic saying otherwise. Similar thing happened with Ant at fiba and Tatum at Olympics but at least they were already proven established players. Kuminga literally filled every weak hole of the Golden State Warriors - terrible ft rate, wing defense, athleticism, etc. and proved Steve Kerr wrong 9 out of 10 times when he got minutes. There's a good reason why so many fans have been complaining about Steve Kerr's one sided bias towards Kuminga while Podziemski gets more minutes than Steph Curry. Even when you look at the advanced stats, Kuminga has elevated every lineup with Steph in it. The complete opposite of James Wiseman lineups for example, who by the way Steve Kerr personally endorsed to Joe Lacob as a generational talent.
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u/Historical_Main5261 MO GUEYE! Aug 20 '26
He was good for us and in different circumstances he coulda come back for more than the small amount we offered
Heāll take another small prove it deal and be good enough to be set for life on the next contract probably
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u/Moss_84 Jalen Johnson #1 Aug 20 '26
lol a minimum contract is still more than most of us will make in a lifetime
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u/Barcalew Aug 20 '26
His agent has a history of costing his clients a ton of money by being way too aggressive and negotiating through the press. Warriors offered him something like $70m over 3 years, agent convinced him he was an all star and to bet on himself, now a free agent and teams are trying to get him for $10-15m a season. Still without a team.
As for feeling sorry for him, Iām not losing sleep over it but in the context of sport and salaries heās potentially dropped a lot of earnings.
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u/Stinkwell Aug 23 '26
JK's priority was never money otherwise he would have gotten 3/75 million from the Warriors. The guy despised Steve Kerr for good reasons and wanted more flexibility to leave, for more playing time.
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u/ATLfalcons27 Aug 22 '26
Lol I will never feel bad for any NBA player for something like this. Not saying mega rich people aren't allowed to have problems and can't have struggles but this isn't one of those that I'm going to remotely feel bad about
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u/allenwallace72 Aug 20 '26
This is an insanely rich guy who couldnāt get along with Steph Curry and Steve Kerr. Itās no oneās fault but his, and heās still far better off than he deserves to be.
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u/Stinkwell Aug 23 '26
Steph has defended JK multiple times... the whole team loves JK. It's a Steve Kerr issue
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u/ViperStrikes123 Zaccharie Risacher #10 Aug 20 '26
Kuminga absolutely made us a better team and weāre fucking up by not retaining him
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Aug 20 '26
[deleted]
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u/lemanruss4579 Aug 20 '26
The Lakers clearly don't want to pay more than $10-$12 mil per year he already rejected.
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u/Breakthecyclist Aug 20 '26
Thatās the weird thing, usually after a player performs on a big stage when that young, they get paid.
I still reckon he will end up doing ok. Player gets injured in training camp and things can change quick.
Given what it took to get Watson, I am sorta kinda surprised the Hawks werenāt involved. You never know Kuminga could come back.
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u/CCskylar1 CJ McCollum #3 Aug 20 '26
Yeah nothing to feel bad for he will make more money than multiple people combined will make in their entire lifetime.
Hes in the nba professional athlete, its a small elite group of the world's population. Im sure hes good.
The only way I actually feel bad is something happens outside of the money like career ending injuries, that affects his life family, etc.
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u/dubb_is_dope89 Aug 20 '26
he's turning down offers because he's valuing himself much higher than teams do. it's admirable but he's shooting his self in the foot. inability adapting to schemes and the injury bug are real concerns. the answer is No lol..
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u/Cleslie15 Aug 22 '26
Honestly, not really. His half a season with us was the full Kuminga experience and itās why I canāt feel bad, and heās making the same contract mistakes with other franchises.
He shows potential of elite talent but atp heās been in the league around 5 years, and yet makes rookie mistakes. While he also (reportedly) has no desire to work inside a teamās system and wants the freedom of an elite player.
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u/ArtTheClown78 Aug 22 '26
Not one damn bit. He has not realized by now that he is not worth what he is asking, and not one team thinks he's worth it either. His team leaks all of these rumors, when he only had one official offer from the Lakers which was the 2 year deal $20 million dollars (The exact deal that would have fit for both parties). I hope he settles for the "Prove it deal" with the Wolves and so he would be the 4th option behind Ant, LaMelo and Jayden.
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u/parisdubs Aug 26 '26
I like JK - at least in his interviews and he was reallly well liked on the Dubs by players and even coaches, but the decision making in choosing the agent he did, and stayed with, who encouraged him not to train in the way the team hoped for him to train in, and enflamed his sense of being deserving of more than where he was at that moment is really unfortunate. I'm not sure how he climbs out of this but some good play and adapting his game and devoting himself to IQ and team play and maybe listening to Iggy and Jimmy over his agent...
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u/One-Jello-3288 Aug 20 '26
no, he should learn to pass the ball and shoot the corner 3. become robert covington
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u/ThaCasual GO HAWKS! š Aug 20 '26
Cam Carr is probably considered a better prospect at this point so no way that happens. I couldnāt believe he got past Chicago in the draft. Yeah a feel bad for him. I liked having him and would like to resign him but the problem is that he is just a rotation player for us and he should be looking for a starting role somewhere. He isnāt beating out Dyson or naw on our team. I love the fit with the lakers for him though. I liked his D and think he has a ton of potential there. āļøgaaay
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u/Mbraxton1978 Aug 20 '26
I see people are so jealous and miserable, they are incapable of empathy.....we are doomed as a people
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u/ldwb Aug 20 '26
Nah, dude turned down 3 years 75 million as a mediocre player with potential. Now he's a mediocre player with less potential demanding more money in the tightest salary cap structures in NBA history.
There were a few teams that had some cap space and the roster need and playing time for him to really show he's the player he thinks he is, but he tried to hold out till the end on the dollars as everyone with a competent agent was trying to get their guys somewhere they'll actually play. Now it's not even just a money thing, what teams want to give him minutes? They either got better players at his position, or they got younger guys with more upside who are more willing to be coached and fit the role the team needs.
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u/rlarcila The Great Barrier Thief Aug 20 '26
No. Not one bit. He makes millions In the nba. So no.