Hawks played the Jonathan Kuminga situation perfectly

The Atlanta Hawkshad a busy offseason, and it's left them with 17 players on their roster heading into training camp. There's a chance that they could've had 18, as Jonathan Kuminga was still a free agent far into the end of August. He ultimately signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves, whichshould be a good situation for himand his play style.

For most of the offseason, the Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers were the teams rumored to have interest in him. The only thing that was holding them back was paying him the money that he was rumored to want, which was around the $20 million range. Nobody had that amount of cap space remaining, especially this late in the offseason.

That meant that a sign-and-trade with the Hawks would be the best option, but it doesn't seem like they liked any of the deals they were receiving. The Cavaliers bowed out and traded for Peyton Watson instead, which left the Lakers and Timberwolves battling for Kuminga. In the end, the Timberwolves won.

Hawks stood firm on not re-signing Jonathan Kuminga

Through all of this, the Hawks could've still been an option for Kuminga, but it didn't look like the Hawks had much interest in bringing him back. If he were to return, he would've wanted to have a bigger role, and with how the roster is currently set up for the Hawks, it's hard to see where he could've truly fit.

Kuminga showed during his short stint with the Hawks that he could be a solid contributor, and when everything was going right for him, he looked like one of the better players on the floor. On the other hand, when things weren't going well for him on the court, it affected the team as a whole. That's probably all the Hawks needed to see, which is why they decided early in the offseason to decline his team option.

The Hawks and Jonathan Kuminga won

At that moment, it should've been a clear indicator that Kuminga's time with the Hawks was coming to an end, unless he came back on a lesser deal with a small role.

The Hawks instead were able to trade for Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins, who have shown to be two solid role players for a championship team. They also plan on developing the other young players on the team, such as Asa Newell, who is set to have a bigger role on the team in his second season. It would've been a clutter in the forward room if Kuminga returned, and the Hawks would've had to make some more decisions on cutting down their roster.

At the end of the day, it looks like the Hawks and Kuminga were able to get what they wanted.

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