The Atlanta Hawks may have a much more difficult time hanging onto onto the Eastern Conference's final play-in tournament berth than anticipated. Superstar point guard Trae Young will be sidelined for at least the next four weeks due to upcoming surgery on a broken left finger, the Hawks announced on Sunday.
An @emoryhealthcare injury update:
During Friday’s game, Trae Young suffered a left-hand injury. He underwent an MRI yesterday, which revealed a tear of the radial collateral ligament (RCL) in the fifth finger of his left hand. He will undergo surgery to repair the RCL on… pic.twitter.com/V0OXvUGCBv
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) February 25, 2024
Trae Young's injury occurred on Friday during Atlanta's 123-121 loss to the Toronto Raptors. The three-time All-Star played 35 minutes against Toronto, but was limited to just 11 points while shooting 4-of-13 from the field and committing four turnovers. He'd previously been ruled out of Sunday's matchup with the Orlando Magic.
Expect veteran sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovic to take Young's place in the starting lineup, shifting Dejounte Murray to the role of Atlanta's primary ball-handler. Rookie Kobe Bufkin and second-year wing AJ Griffin could also see increased playing time while Young is sidelined, though the latter sprained his ankle two days during a G League assignment.
Atlanta enters Sunday's game against Orlando at 24-32, three games up on the slumping Brooklyn Nets for 10th-place in the East. Quin Snyder's team is 2-3 without Young this season, and its offensive rating dips from a league-average 116.3 to 114.1 when he's on the bench, per NBA.com/stats.
Eyebrows raised league-wide when the Hawks stood pat at the trade deadline, hanging onto Murray, Bogdanovic and Clint Capela rather than initiating a firesale rebuild around Young. The resulting assumption was that Atlanta had just kicked the can down the road, setting itself up for major changes to come this summer. Young's injury and subsequent absence doesn't change that, only increasing the possibility of this era coming to an end without the measured excitement of another appearance in the play-in tournament.
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