Southeast Notes: Hawks Employee Indictment, Young, Larsson, Ball

A former Hawks employee has been charged with fraud and embezzling $3.8MM from the franchise, according to an indictment brought last week by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov, Joe Vardon and Sam Amick report.

Lester Jones, who was the team’s senior vice president of financial planning and analysis, reportedly charged trips to the Bahamas, Hawaii, Thailand, Switzerland and other countries; paid for a Porsche; and bought tickets to concerts and other events on corporate credit cards. Jones was in a romantic relationship with another team employee and allegedly bought her expensive gifts via corporate funds.

Evidence of his alleged crimes was uncovered through a team-backed audit. Jones pleaded not guilty and was released on a $10K bond last week.

We have more on the Southeast Division:

• Hawks star guard Trae Young has a sprained MCL and will miss at least four weeks. Coach Quin Snyder said the Hawks were actually relieved that Young’s knee injury didn’t involve major structural damage, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk tweets. Snyder added that “other guys will have to be more involved as playmakers, and that requires different actions,” Brad Rowland of LockedOnHawks tweets. Young excels in the pick-and-roll game but Atlanta will alter its schemes until he returns.
• Norman Powell returned to the Heat lineup after a three-game absence on Monday but his fill-in Pelle Larsson remained in the starting five. Coach Erik Spoelstra moved struggling big man Kel’el Ware to the bench as the Heat went small against the Clippers, a game in which Miami won by a point. “I know probably people will point to Kel’el and say it’s a demotion. It’s not,” Spoelstra said, per Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “I know there will be some teams that it makes more sense to play big. We have a team that it makes more sense to use our versatility. Sometimes it changes the starting lineup to do that.”
• LaMelo Ball was sidelined for the Hornets’ game against New Orleans Tuesday due to a right ankle injury, according to NBA.com. Ball also missed the Hornets’ previous game, a 23-point win over Utah on Sunday. He is averaging 23.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game while shooting 43% overall and 33.3% on 3-pointers. Charlotte lost to the Pelicans, 116-112.