What does the Hawks' Acquisition of Lu Dort Mean for their pursuit of Peyton Watson and Jonathan Kuminga?

Yesterday, the Atlanta Hawks traded for All-Defensive wing Lu Dort in a three-team deal that involved the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks. The Hawks also acquired Ryan Nembhard from the Mavericks and sent Zaccharie Risacher to Dallas in the deal.

The Hawks had been linked to a number of different wing players over the course of the offseason, but they pulled the trigger on a deal for Dort and now they get one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA and someone who has shot the ball well from three in the past. Pairing him with Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker is going to give the Hawks one of the best perimeter defender trios in the NBA and their level of physicality is going to go up.

When it comes to the players they had been linked to, Nuggets restricted free agent Peyton Watson and Jonathan Kuminga. Atlanta declined Kuminga's $24.3 million team option earlier this offseason, but there were reports that the Hawks remained open to bringing him back. The Hawks have been mentioned most recently as a team with interest in Watson, but their pursuit of him is more complicated due to his being a restricted free agent.

So does the addition of Dort prevent the Hawks from continuing to pursue Kuminga and/or Watson?

What's next for the Hawks?

Peyton Watson Denver Nugget — Mar 25, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Peyton Watson (8) reacts after a play in the fourth quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Just because they brought in Dort, it does not necessarily mean that the Hawks are not going to have Kuminga or put in a real pursuit for Peyton Watson.

But does it actually make sense for them to do that now?

Kuminga has received interest from the Lakers, Cavaliers, and Bucks, but any of those teams could only acquire him via sign-and-trade, meaning that Atlanta would have to take something back. The complicated factor about that is Atlanta is already at 17 players on their roster and would likely have to add players to the deal to either send to the team signing Kuminga or to a third team.

Contrastly, the Hawks can only acquire Watson via a sign-and-trade and with the financial shape that Denver is in, a sign-and-trade involving a lot of the players that the Hawks would want to trade them would mean that a third team would likely need to be involved.

To acquire Watson, Atlanta would need to move at least three players in the deal and only take him back in the deal.

Could the Hawks bring back Kuminga? They would have to move at least three players on their roster to make sure they get to 15.

The Hawks have to get their roster down to 15 before the season begins and that could involve the Hawks trading three players and re-signing Kuminga, trading three players in a sign-and-trade for Watson, trading two players and not taking any back to get their roster to 15, or waiving two players, such as Mouhamed Gueye and Ryan Nembhard to get their roster down.

The other question is: Are these two players what the Hawks need on their roster?

Both are talented and would help the Hawks in different ways, but I do not think that they are what the Atlanta needs most on its roster. I think the Hawks would be better suited to moving two players off their roster, seeing how this group meshes together, and wait for the next star player to become available, or use their flexibility to open up a lot of cap space next offseason.

The Hawks could still pursue either Kuminga or Watson, but both moves are complicated and neither make a lot of sense for the Hawks now.

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