Quin Snyder Explains Why Hawks Aren’t Worried About Kingston Flemings’ Debut

Kingston Flemings went 0-of-5 from the field in 15:14 off the bench Wednesday night, his first regular-season game since the Atlanta Hawks drafted him eighth overall in June.

He had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block.

Atlanta beat the Orlando Magic 132-125 at Kia Center.

Flemings committed 2 turnovers and 1 foul. His only 3-point attempt missed, and the Hawks were outscored by 5 points with him on the floor.

Hawks coach Quin Snyder said Flemings got himself in trouble a couple of times, which he called expected.

"I thought he did some really good things, particularly in the first half," Snyder said. "He turned up the pressure defensively, and we went on a couple runs during that time where we forced a couple turnovers. He got himself in trouble a little bit, a couple times, and that's, frankly, to be expected."

"The great thing about Kingston is he'll absorb all that and he'll watch it on film, and the next time he goes out, he'll be mindful of it again," Snyder continued. "And he's just going to keep getting better. You have to have experience to go through those things. And I just like the way that he competed."

Orlando committed 20 turnovers. Atlanta had 9 steals and scored 24 points off those turnovers.

Dyson Daniels had 5 of the steals. Flemings sees him every day in practice, where Daniels is usually his matchup, and he described him Monday as a pesky defender on and off the ball.

Daniels averaged 3.0 steals per game in 2024-25. He won Most Improved Player that season and made the All-Defensive First Team.

Steals were part of Flemings' game at Houston. He had 56 in 37 games as a freshman, 1.5 per game, with a high of 8 against Florida State in December. All three of his preseason dunks came off steals.

He averaged 16.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 5.2 assists for the Cougars. He was the first freshman in program history to earn All-America honors.

At training camp at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, defensive rotations were the area that challenged him most. Atlanta went 4-1 in the preseason, losing only the opener.

Flemings started two of Atlanta's five preseason games. Both came with CJ McCollum out, first with a nose contusion in the Oct. 5 opener against the Memphis Grizzlies and then on rest Oct. 12 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

He came off the bench in the other three.

In Friday's 135-111 finale at the Dallas Mavericks, he had 10 points and a team-high 6 assists.

McCollum started Wednesday and scored 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Nickeil Alexander-Walker led Atlanta with 31.

Those are the two veterans Flemings has worked out with most since the draft, by his own account.

Zuby Ejiofor, the No. 23 pick and Atlanta's other first-round rookie, did not play. Ejiofor had 19 points and 15 rebounds against Oklahoma City on Oct. 12.

Jalen Johnson, who had 20 points and 14 rebounds Wednesday, invited Flemings and Ejiofor to train with him in Los Angeles earlier in the summer, Snyder said Monday.

For Flemings, the opener offered a reminder that his development will not be measured only by points. Snyder saw defensive pressure, competitiveness, and teachable mistakes in a scoreless debut.

Flemings' next chance comes Friday at the Charlotte Hornets. Tip-off at Spectrum Center is 7 p.m. ET.