Atlanta Hawks Stun NBA: Buddy Hield Joins ATL in Blockbuster Porzingis Trade — How the Move Reshapes the East

Atlanta has doubled down on perimeter firepower, officially landing Buddy Hield in the multi-player deadline blockbuster that sent Kristaps Porziņģis to Golden State and rerouted the veteran sharpshooter plus forward Jonathan Kuminga to the Hawks. Hield, 33, arrives with a freshly inked two-year, $21 million contract that carries a modest $3 million partial guarantee in Year 3 and a player option for a non-guaranteed Year 4, a structure first reported when Golden State executed the sign-and-trade with Philadelphia last summer. By absorbing that deal, general manager Landry Fields preserves future cap flexibility while adding the NBA’s most prolific three-point shooter since 2019: Hield’s 1,474 makes in that span top even Stephen Curry. Fit with Trae Young and the offense • Atlanta ranks 18th in three-point accuracy (35.6 %) and 24th in catch-and-shoot percentage; Hield’s career 40.1 % clip immediately upgrades both categories. • Young generates the league’s fourth-most drive-and-kick assists per game; Hield converted 45.7 % of his spot-ups for Golden State, giving Atlanta a ready-made release valve on the wing. • Expect Quin Snyder to leverage Hield in the same wide-pin-down and pistol actions that unlocked Bogdan Bogdanović early this season, only now with two legitimate 40 % threats spacing opposite corners. Why the Hawks were willing to move Porziņģis The 7-foot-2 center’s $36 million option for 2026-27 would have pushed Atlanta into repeater-tax territory. Swapping him for Hield (short-term money) and Kuminga (under team control through at least 2028) slices roughly $15 million off next year’s books while raising the club’s athletic ceiling on the perimeter. Projected rotation shake-up 1. Starters: Young, Hield, De’Andre Hunter, Kuminga, Clint Capela. 2. Second unit: Dejounte Murray slides back into a lead-guard role, flanked by Bogdanović and AJ Griffin, keeping floor-spacing constant when Young rests. 3. Late-game: Snyder can downsize to a switch-everything lineup of Young-Murray-Hield-Kuminga-Hunter, an option the Hawks simply didn’t have with Porziņģis anchoring the paint. Record-chasing watch Hield (2,314 career threes) needs just 32 more to enter the NBA’s top-10 all-time list, a mark he’s on pace to eclipse before the All-Star break. Atlanta owns the league record for most threes in a single quarter (11); pairing Hield with streak shooters Young and Bogdanović makes that franchise feat ripe for revision. What’s next League sources say Atlanta isn’t done; Capela and backup big Onyeka Okongwu continue to draw interest from rim-needy contenders. But with Hield locked in, the Hawks have effectively replaced Porziņģis’ scoring while diversifying the offense, all without sacrificing future first-round assets. Bottom line The trade’s success hinges on Hield’s defense holding up in the postseason. If he can stay afloat on switches — a task made easier by Kuminga’s length and Hunter’s versatility — Atlanta suddenly boasts the kind of high-volume perimeter arsenal that can steal a playoff series. At worst, the Hawks have purchased elite shooting at a reasonable rate; at best, they’ve given Trae Young the gravity-warping co-star he’s lacked since the 2021 conference-final run.