The Dust Settles: Trade Grades for a Crazy Deadline (Part 2)
The Kuminga Question, Dillingham's new digs, and apron weirdness
Hey all!
If you read yesterday’s piece, you know what’s going on here: We’re grading the trade deadline, as is customary this time of year. Yesterday, we covered the AD deal, Coby White being shipped off to the Hornets, and even Jose Alvarado getting dealt to his hometown. Today, we have a few more deals I want to talk about — though certainly not exhaustive — so let’s begin with a conclusive end to a weird Warriors saga…
The Warriors End the Questioning
Atlanta receives:
Jonathan Kuminga
Buddy Hield
Golden State receives:
Kristaps Porziņģis
It’s been over a year of rumors, murmurings, and benchings, but the Warriors have finally dealt Jonathan Kuminga. And in return, they take a big risk.
We can start with Golden State’s side of the equation just for the heck of it. Jonathan Kuminga never really settled into the Warriors’ system, which often requires players to come off of screens, cut to the basket, and generally prevents everyone not named Steph Curry or (in the modern era) Jimmy Butler from dribbling more than twice.
As I’ve noted in the past, Kuminga was way too into his isolation game and didn’t cut to the basket as much as he should, despite his obvious talent in doing so. With him going into unrestricted free agency this offseason, the Warriors either had to include draft capital or trade for another expiring deal. They obviously opted for the latter here and threw in Buddy Hield for good measure.
