The Atlanta Hawks brought CJ McCollum back on a one-year/$21 million contract this offseason. They also drafted Kingston Flemings with the eighth overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. The idea was for the 35-year-old veteran guard to take the rookie under his wing. At the start of the season, Flemings was in the rotation, but Hawks head coach Quin Snyder still wanted to lean on his veteran guards. However, as time passed, Flemings got more opportunities and more playing time.
In the game against the Miami Heat, Flemings played a career-high 28 minutes. Of course, it helped that he was playing with more confidence. Flemings scored 23 points on 86.3% true shooting. Meanwhile, McCollum played only 20 minutes despite an efficient game. He accumulated 13 points on 72.2% true shooting, but only played four minutes in the second half. Instead, Snyder closed the game with Flemings, who played all 12 minutes in the fourth quarter.
This season, McCollum is averaging a career-low 26.8 minutes per game despite being the starting point guard for most of the season. Flemings has recently seen an uptick in playing time, and he has now taken the starting role from McCollum.
Not Meant For The Lead Guard Role
The simple fact is, McCollum is playing out of position. For most of his career, McCollum played the two next to Damian Lillard in Portland. Since leaving the team, he has transitioned more into a point guard role. Since the 2022-23 season, McCollum has averaged 4.6 assists and two turnovers per game. While he can still score at a high level, McCollum does not have the skill set of a lead guard.
Without Trae Young, the Hawks have become less of a pick-and-roll-reliant team. Currently, Atlanta ranks 27th in the NBA in pick-and-roll possessions per game (13.6 possessions). Moreover, the Hawks are scoring just 0.90 points per possession on pick-and-roll actions. For McCollum, he’s second on the team in pick-and-roll possessions per game (4), but he’s only scoring 0.94 PPP as a ball-handler on those actions. On handoff actions, McCollum is only scoring 0.74 PPP.
Bench Role Is Best For The Team
Even as a starter, McCollum was averaging his fewest minutes since his second season in the NBA. Now that Flemings has taken the starting role, orchestrating the bench unit could better fit his skill set. It was McCollum himself who suggested the lineup change.
It’s not necessarily a new role for McCollum. He came off the bench in 16 games last season after the trade to Atlanta. However, he felt it was best for the team that Flemings take his place in the starting lineup. In his first career start against the Washington Wizards, Flemings actually played two fewer minutes than McCollum.
“In spite of his age, I thought [Kingston Flemings] was poised,” Snyder said after Flemings’ first career start.
The Hawks will lean on Flemings more, and McCollum can adapt to a new role off the bench. The thing is, Flemings’ first career start came without Jalen Johnson, who has missed the last two games with an ankle injury. We’ll see what it looks like for McCollum moving forward, but it was only a matter of time before Flemings was moved into the starting lineup.
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