Hawks star Trae Young, who underwent an MRI on his left hand after injuring it in Friday’s loss to Toronto, has been diagnosed with a tear of the radial collateral ligament (RCL) in the fifth finger of that hand, the team announced today (Twitter link).
According to the Hawks, Young will undergo surgery on Tuesday to repair the RCL and will be reevaluated in four weeks.
It’s unclear whether or not Young will be healthy enough to return at the four-week mark, but even if he is, he’ll miss more than half of Atlanta’s 26 remaining games. The team currently has a 24-32 record and is hanging onto the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference, two games back of the ninth-seeded Bulls and three games ahead of the No. 11 Nets.
Securing the No. 10 spot would give the Hawks a chance to make the playoffs, though they’d need to win two play-in contests against higher seeds to advance in that scenario.
An All-Star this season for the third time in his career, Young is averaging 26.4 points and a career-high 10.8 assists this season in 51 games (36.5 MPG), with a shooting line of .426/.371/.856. He’s the Hawks’ leading scorer and his 30.3% usage rate is easily the highest mark on the roster.
Young is under contract on a maximum-salary deal for two more guaranteed seasons beyond this one, then holds a $49MM player option for 2026/27. He has been cited as a potential offseason trade candidate a couple times since the February 8 deadline, though those reports were based more on the speculation of rival executives than information from inside the Hawks’ organization.
With Young unavailable, Atlanta will likely lean more on Dejounte Murray and Bogdan Bogdanovic to handle the ball and initiate the offense.
It’s worth noting that guard Trent Forrest, who is on a two-way contract, has reached his limit of 50 active games, so it will be interesting to see whether the team makes a roster move involving Forrest to fortify its backcourt depth. Promoting him to the 15-man roster would free him up to continue playing, though it would require waiving someone on a guaranteed contract. Cutting him would allow Atlanta to add a new two-way player who could be activated immediately.
This may help Murray show his abilities are better w/o Trae and up his trade value for this off-season
Or perhaps trade trae….
So do you go for the lottery pick ??
Seems to me Hawks should just shut it down. Go full rebuild. Their older guys are not there as a top team. And their young guys don’t seem ready yet. You blow it up. Get young stars In return and picks. And go full rebuild. Move Young, Murray, Capela, Hunter. They can get a haul back. They are stuck in mediocrity.
It’s difficult for them to go full on rebuild, kinda like the situation the Nets are in owing their recent future draft to Houston. Hawks don’t have their 25,26 and 27 picks so a full rebuild would simply be giving Spurs 3 good picks. It’s more likely they see how Murray looks without Trae and move one of them this off season and try to build while staying hopefully competitive by keeping the other.
Spurs don’t waste the prime of their best players though, hawks do.
They just need to move Trae for whatever assets they can…
They can’t go full rebuild, so mediocrity and survival off of another teams poor record with Trae will be the way forwards…
I agree, moving Trae is the best option he’s an AS whose offensive play is one of the best in the league so his value is still high(even with his shockingly bad defense). But it all has to be done so they can stay at least in the play in picture going forward to avoid the embarrassment of giving high picks to Spurs.
I like him for Orlando, they have plenty of defenders to make up for his lack of D and him running their offence would make them challengers over night. Franz and a few picks would be fair, maybe get another one of their young assets too. Hawks would get a young wing who can keep them competitive enough not to give Spurs the benefit and would justify keeping Murray as he is in a good contract. It’s an instant switch that pays off both sides.
If not kick the tyres on a deal that includes Cade from Pistons, or even look to Rockets for a few good young players who can play now and try to pick up a BKN etc pick in process. There’s lots of teams that would push for Trae and offer a lot more than the current teams that keep being mentioned.
We all know Trae Young is great but what team wants a small guard these days? It just weakens your team.
@BeachGuy 2 did you fall through a worm hole? This was from like over a month ago!
But to answer your Q a lot of teams. That small guard is same Size as Mitchell, Brunson, Kyrie etc. and arguably better offensive than all! it’s only a weakness in a bad set up, even Steph is a small guard. The key is getting the right team. Again I would go Orlando as his best destination, with him Suggs Franz and Paolo that would be instant contender. Suggs and their over all team very strong D would offset Trae and let him do his work. Problem is I don’t see them keeping Franz or Paolo in any move for him.
Blessing in disguise? I’d say yes if it facilitates either 1) Murray re-establishing (to the league) that he’s still the same player when he plays the point, or 2) the ATL FO losing its infatuation with TY.
Tank time. More than likely got two firsts this draft and that’s it for a while. Upcoming free agent class isn’t stacked either. What to do? Gut the team for picks and build around Trae who’ll be on a different timeline. Trade Trae for a haul or make trades for the sake of making trades that don’t move the needle?
Hawks are afraid to trade Trae…
Middle of the road it is then.
I think the Lakers really like Murray. Imo he’s a good fit there. Also after Bron retires. Hawks didn’t want Russell. I don’t blame them. But next yr Lakers will have more picks to offer. And Russell can be moved to another team. I like Murray on Lakers.
Spurs should take a long look at Russell. Maybe Pops can get the most out of Russell. He’s still a young vet. And could fit well there on a young team. Probably get him cheap too.
I like the Russell to Spurs thinking, definitely help while developing a young PG. I’m not a spurs fan but I do like the ball club. If they could pair that Alex Sarr with wemby in a twin towers line up and a Dillingham falls a little or that Serbian kid who’s a point guard. The spurs rebuild is on and popping. A wemby sarr combination has potential to change the league years to come. I like Murray in L.A and after Bron is done Lakers have a case to sign Donovan Mitchell surely.
Why do you want to make sure the Spurs suffer?
They had been playing without a true PG on the floor a lot this year… It doesn’t look good…
They need a true PG… Not a combo guard 6th man like Dlo…
I got a hand job in Atlanta once and was back at work the next day. #TradeTrae