Last season's sixth overall pick Onyeka Okongwu will be out for the next six months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn right shoulder labrum. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the 20-year-old big man had surgery on Wednesday and will be missing the first few months of the 2021-2022 regular season for the Atlanta Hawks.
ESPN story on Atlanta center Onyeka Okongwu lost for approximately six months with surgery to repair a torn right shoulder labrum: https://t.co/abPd37m6iJ
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 22, 2021
Included in the report, Wojnarowksi confirmed that Okongwu is expected to make a full recovery after the major surgery which was done in Los Angeles. It was a lingering injury that nagged the young big man which resulted to him opting for an off-season procedure. Hopefully, if everything goes as planned, the Chino Hills-native should be good to go come late December or early January.
The one-and-done USC standout had a promising rookie campaign for the Hawks last season. After being in and out of the lineup for the early part of the regular season, the former First-team All-Pac-12 member moved up the depth chart for the Hawks as the season went on and played a total of 50 games, including four starts, providing crucial minutes for head coach Nate McMillan.
In his first career postseason stint, Okongwu played all 18 playoff games for Atlanta averaging 2.7 points and 2.7 rebounds per game in 9.2 minutes per outing. Though his numbers were quite underwhelming, Okongwu showed huge potential as a backup center behind Clint Capela and John Collins and, if developed properly, could be a huge piece for the Hawks moving forward as the team looks to build on their impressive 2020-2021 campaign.
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