The Atlanta Hawks will be without point guard Trae Young for weeks after the All-Star tore a ligament in his left pinkie finger during Friday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Young appeared to injure his finger on a play in the fourth quarter as he reached to try to poke away a pass from Gradey Dick to Ochai Agbaji. Young appeared to make contact with the ball, but Agbaji recovered and scored while Young grabbed at this hand. Young rested shortly afterward but played the rest of the game.
Here’s everything we know about the injury and what comes next.
Young Could Return Just Before Playoffs
According to the Hawks, Young is slated to have surgery on Tuesday in New York and he will be evaluated for a return in four weeks.
A four-week return following Tuesday’s surgery would have Young back for a game against the Portland Trail Blazers on March 27.
The 25-year-old is right-handed. The Hawks are 3-3 without him this season after beating the Orlando Magic 109-92 on Sunday.
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
The Hawks Will Miss Young
Young has historically been one of the highest-usage players in the NBA, and this year is no exception—Young uses 34.7 percent of Atlanta’s offense (which is measured by calculating how many possessions he either scores, assists or turns the ball over). That puts him in the 92nd percentile league-wide.
Young—who has made three All-Star teams and an All-NBA team during his career—uses those possessions to post his usual gaudy stats: He is averaging 26.4 points and a career-high 10.8 assists per game.
Something to watch: The Hawks have been a little better with Young off the floor as opposed to on. Per stats site Cleaning the Glass, the Hawks have been 3.6 points per 100 possessions worse with Young on the floor, which is a major difference from last year’s gap when the Hawks were just under seven points better with Young on the floor.
The team’s best on/off player this season has been guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, with whom the team is 13.2 points per 100 possessions better on the floor. Bogdanovic is averaging 16.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
Atlanta Might Struggle to Make Playoffs
The Hawks’ schedule to end the season isn’t easy: If Young returns in four weeks, Atlanta will still have games against the league-leading Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets and surging Miami Heat over the final two weeks. In the interim, they will face the Celtics (again), Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Clippers.
Currently, the Hawks (25-32) hold a three-game lead over the Brooklyn Nets for the final slot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament, and a 3.5-game lead over the Raptors. That’s a sizable gap, but not an impossible one if either team can get hot and the Hawks struggle while Young is out.
Dejounte Murray Will Be Crucial
Murray, a 26-year-old guard whom the Hawks acquired last year to be a two-way presence next to Young, is averaging 21.6 points and 5.5 assists per game this season.
“We don’t have any excuses. This is the NBA,” Murray told reporters recently. “Obviously, we want him to get back as soon as he can. But while he’s out, next man up. That’s it. There’s opportunities for guys to show why they are in the NBA.”
Hawks coach Quin Snyder reiterated that the Hawks need to adapt.
“You feel awful for Trae more than anything,” Snyder added. “It is going to be a challenge for him not to be out there.”
The Hawks take on the Jazz at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.