The Atlanta Hawks are declining Jonathan Kuminga's $24.3 million club option, sending the 23-year-old back to free agency for the second straight summer. 's Shams Charania reported the move, which removes Kuminga from Atlanta's books for 2026-27 and gives general manager Onsi Saleh more room to work with before the market opens.
That is why Kuminga is being searched now. He is no longer tied to restricted free agency, and he is free to pursue the best possible deal without Atlanta controlling the terms. For a player who is just 23 years old, that changes the path in an instant: one day he is a held option on a payroll, the next he is available to any team willing to make the strongest offer.
The decision also fits the numbers. Atlanta had a payroll of $153.1 million before salary cap holds, so removing Kuminga's salary is a clean way to create flexibility. His run with the team had moments that showed why the Hawks wanted him, too. On Feb. 24, he put up 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in a 119-98 win over the Washington Wizards, then followed less than a week later with another 20-point outing. In 16 games with Atlanta, he averaged 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from beyond the arc.
But the early burst never fully changed the larger picture. Across five seasons in Golden State, Kuminga had already settled into a similar scoring range, averaging 12.5 points while shooting 50.3 percent overall and 33.1 percent on threes. The postseason made the gap harder to ignore. In the Hawks' first-round playoff loss to the New York Knicks, he went 5-of-24 from beyond the arc and matched his six turnovers with six assists, even though his 40 combined points helped Atlanta win Games 2 and 3. Those are the kind of stretches that keep a player interesting and unsettled at the same time.
Now the market gets the final say. Kuminga is heading to the open market for the second successive summer, and this time he arrives without restricted free agency limits. Atlanta has chosen flexibility over commitment, and the next contract he signs will answer whether his brief surge in Atlanta was the start of something bigger or just the sharpest flash in a season that never fully settled.
