The Atlanta Hawks were dealt a major blow on Saturday with the announcement that star point guard Trae Young would be sidelined for at least four weeks due to an MCL injury, as per Shams Charania of ESPN. Young first suffered the injury during the Hawks’ game against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. After having his knee banged, Young exited the game, attempted to come back in, but then exited for good and headed back to the locker room. In what is a bit of relief for the Hawks, Young’s MRI revealed no major structural damage.
Before Trae Young suffered the knee injury during the Hawks’ game against the Nets, he had played seven minutes and had six points, one rebound, one assist and one blocked shots. The Hawks were able to pull off the win, 117-112, with Young sidelined.
Through the Hawks’ first five games of the season, Young had played around 27 minutes per game. He had been averaging 17.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 7.8 assists with splits of 37.1 percent shooting from the field, 19.2 percent shooting from the three-point line and 82.1 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Young was coming off his fourth NBA All-Star appearance last year, and his second consecutive. The No. 5 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Young has the ability to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season should he choose to opt out of his contract via his player option. Young and the Hawks did not come to an agreement on a contract extension before the start of the regular season.
