Fantasy Basketball Impact: Jonathan Kuminga Injury Re-Evaluation
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Since acquiring Jonathan Kuminga before the NBA trade deadline, the Atlanta Hawks are 1-3. And while Kuminga has been a listed player on the roster over this stretch of poor play for Atlanta, he has had no impact on their losses. He has been inactive.
On Jan. 22, while playing for the Golden State Warriors, Kumiga landed awkwardly on his ankle on a drive to the basket against the Dallas Mavericks. The diagnosis of his injury was later revealed to be a bone bruise and a knee hyperextension. Here is the latest on Kuminga’s injury.
Jonathan Kuminga injury update
The Warriors, following Kuminga’s injury, did not believe that his ailment would lead him to miss a long period of time. The Hawks said when acquiring Kuminga that they would wait until after the NBA All-Star break to reevaluate Kuminga. So, although things regarding the former Warrior are still unknown, a better understanding of his injury should soon be on the way.
The two injuries that he sustained have a wide range of return-to-play times. In the NBA, a minor case of a knee hyperextension is said to have an average return to play timeline of 10-14 days, while a more severe degree of the injury could hold a player out for eight weeks. When it comes to bone bruises, they typically keep NBA players out somewhere between one 1 and 2.5 months.
Fantasy Basketball Impact of Jonathan Kuminga’s Return
When Kuminga inevitably suits up for Atlanta, other players' statistics will be affected. A group of players on the Hawks roster whose fantasy stock will take a hit is the supporting cast of wings around star Jalen Johnson–Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
Dyson Daniels
Second-year Atlanta Hawk, Daniels, is having another great season for Atlanta. He is averaging 11.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 6.2 APG. Daniels is also having another high-level season defensively, coming off a year where he made the ALL-NBA Defensive First Team. This season, he is averaging 1.8 SPG.
With Daniels being one of the best wing defenders on the roster, the addition of Kuminga should not heavily affect his playing time–Daniels is averaging 33.6 MPG–but it should have an impact on his touches on the offensive end. So fantasy managers should not try to do anything drastic if they have Daniels, but they should prepare for his 11.6 PPG average to fall.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
The same thing regarding how Kuminga’s presence will impact Daniels applies to Alexander-Walker. His PPG average will take a slight hit, but his time on the court will not because of what he brings defensively–Alexander-Walker is averaging 33.2 MPG. With this fantasy, managers with Alexander-Walker should not react in any sort of way to Kuminga coming back.
This season, Alexander-Walker is averaging 20.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, and 3.7 APG.
Zaccharie Risacher
Fantasy managers who may still be holding on to Risacher, hoping he will turn things around and become a good player in fantasy this season, need to push that hope to next year. The 2024 #1 overall pick statistically is having a slightly worse year compared to his rookie year. He is averaging 10.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 1.3 APG. In putting up these stats, he is averaging just 24.2 MPG.
With the current construction of the Hawks' wing rotation, Risacher looks like one of the most likely players that Kuminga will pull minutes from. With this, all of his statistics should take a notable hit. Fantasy managers with Risacher should try to trade him, or just drop him if there is an equal player with more upside, or just a player who is currently putting up better statistics on the waiver wire.
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Gray Deyo is a Nashville-based sportswriter who graduated with a sports management bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He has covered prep sports, college sports, the WNBA, and the NBA for the past four years. In addition to writing for SI, Gray also currently contributes to Prep Girls Hoops