Our First Look at Kingston Flemings With the Atlanta Hawks Revealed Something Important

Flemings has looked the part so far during the preseason and showing he might be comfortable in his role from day one

Oct 8, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Kingston Flemings (4) dunks over San Antonio Spurs guard David Jones Garcia (25) during the second half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It is best to not overreact to anything that you see in the preseason, but the Atlanta Hawks have to be overjoyed with what they have seen from Kingston Flemings so far this preseason.

Flemings got the start for Atlanta on Monday night in place of CJ McCollum and did not look out of place. Yes, it's the preseason, and the Grizzlies are not exactly going to be contending for a spot in the NBA Finals this season, but Flemings looked steady in guiding the offense, finishing with 11 points and playing solid defense, but he did not do much when it came to shot creation and taking the ball away from the opponent.

Thursday night was a different story.

Flemings was the star of the game last night against one of the elite teams in the NBA. He scored 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field and 2-for-4 from three, while also handing out five assists and stealing the ball three times. He was a huge catalyst for the second half comeback for the Hawks and was a +8 when on the floor.

Flemings talked about his performance last night and detailed what the Hawks were trying to do against the Spurs defense:

"Obviously, they got a great defensive team. Just trying to be aggressive, get out of their positions. You know what I mean? When they have a set defense, they're really hard to score on. Quinn was telling us to get out and run, and when we went on a run, that's what happened. We were getting rebounds, we were pushing. So, trying to follow what Quinn said and had success."

He also talked about his first couple of preseason games and how he has developed since training camp:

"You know, for me, I think a lot on the court, and a lot of times I almost overthink it. You know, I'm looking at the ball handling too much. Like last game, I had a lot of off-off screens I was getting hit on because I'm just ball-watching too much. So it's kind of just, you know, slowing my mind down to almost make me play a little better. When my mind's moving fast and I'm processing everything at the same time, that's when I struggle. So kind of slowing it down and kicking it, like one game, one play at a time, that definitely helped me a lot."

One of the questions about the Hawks coming into training camp was their guard depth. They cut Devin Carter and waived Ryan Nembhard, meaning that Flemings was going to need to step up and be ready to take the mantle as the backup point guard. If not, the Hawks depth was going to suffer.

Through two preseason games, Flemings has stepped up to the challenge. He has been far from perfect, but he is playing sound basketball right now and looks comfortable. The NBA game has not been too big for him and that is huge for the Hawks. The Hawks are hoping that eventually, Flemings turns into their franchise point guard. But for now, they will take nights like that from him.