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.
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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.
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.
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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.
