Atlanta Hawks level guard Trae Young sustained a sprained MCL in his right knee throughout a 117-112 win over Brooklyn Nets Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, who additionally reported Saturday that Young will be re-evaluated in 4 weeks.
Young underwent an MRI Friday, and, in response to Charania, a number of physician stories confirmed that the four-time All-Star averted main structural injury in the knee.
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Young suffered the damage from a collision with teammate Mouhamed Gueye. It passed off late in the primary quarter. Gueye fell backward after contact on the baseline and immediately into Young’s right knee. Young’s knee bent in the fallacious route, and he fell to the ground, clutching his knee in ache.
Young was capable of stroll to the sideline and communicate with head coach Quin Snyder. But he left for the locker room and was dominated out earlier than halftime with a sprained knee.
Hawks have promise, however they’re relying on Young
Trae Young’s knee bent awkwardly, and he was dominated out shortly after leaving for the locker room.
(Sarah Stier by way of Getty Images)
The Hawks seem to have dodged a extra vital blow to their greatest star. Still, Young’s absence will not go unnoticed. Young has led Atlanta scoring in every season since his 2018-19 rookie marketing campaign. He averaged 24.2 factors and a league-high 11.6 assists per recreation final season whereas taking pictures 34% on 8.4 3-point makes an attempt per recreation.
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Young is the offensive centerpiece of a roster that Atlanta hopes can propel the Hawks into competition in a wide-open Eastern Conference.
The Hawks added Kristaps Porziņģis to a roster that additionally options reigning NBA Most Improved Player Dyson Daniels, who led the league in steals, earned first-team All-Defensive staff honors and completed second in Defensive Player of the Year voting final season.
Atlanta additionally returned two-way rising star Jalen Johnson, who was on his strategy to his first All-Star marketing campaign in 2024-25 earlier than knee and shoulder accidents restricted him to 36 video games and in the end ended his season early. And final 12 months’s No. 1 general decide, Zaccharie Risacher, is again after rallying from early-season effectivity struggles to complete second in Rookie of the Year voting.
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It’s a roster and not using a observe document, however it has loads of upside in an Eastern Conference that is up for grabs. Whatever the Hawks do that season, they’re relying on Young to be on the heart of it.