It is very clear the Atlanta Hawks will only go as far as Trae Young takes this team. Young, who is averaging 26.8 points, 7.3 assists and five rebounds for the Hawks this season, has only bolstered his campaign for becoming a first-time All-Star. That campaign hit a speed bump last week when Young rolled his ankle against the Miami Heat, causing him to miss one game, which Atlanta lost.
While it initially looked like Young would miss a few weeks with the injury, the X-Rays performed on his ankle came back negative, and he was only expected to miss a week of action, as originally reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. A week’s time has passed, and it appears that Young will be ready to go for the Hawks’ Tuesday night game against the San Antonio Spurs.
Wojnarowski reported that Young will be a participant in practice on Monday, with the expectation that he will be inserted back into the Hawks’ starting lineup for Tuesday. That is, of course, there are no setbacks during practice.
During the Hawks’ game against the Heat on Oct. 29, Young looked to roll his ankle pretty badly while driving to the basket. He immediately limped to the locker room, and was almost instantly ruled out for the night with a right ankle sprain.
While an MRI to get a more in-depth look at Young’s ankle was the plan, the Atlanta Hawks received better news the following morning, with major improvements seen to Young ankle. The plans for the MRI were scrapped, and there was no longer a fear that Young would miss an extended amount of time.
When the injury occurred, Young wasn’t too concerned, saying he felt good and hoped to be “day-to-day.”
Young’s full comments on the injury and how he’s feeling:
“For me I got it looked at, just trying to see what’s all wrong with it. Right now, I’ll be day-to-day. I feel good. See how tomorrow feels and go from there.”
“I was able to put weight on it walking back once I got closer to the locker room. But it’s definitely something that they want me to stay off it as much as possible right now.”
Young had been quite durable so far in his career, missing only one game last season while not missing a game in college either. Given his lean frame, there had certainly been some concerns, though. This injury will no doubt draw comparisons to the ankle injuries sustained by Stephen Curry early in his career, as the two have often been compared early in Young’s career.
Luckily, the Hawks only had to play one game without Young, but without him on the floor, Atlanta’s offensive rating drops from 112.2, to 94.5, and his playmaking and scoring ability is sorely missed on this incredibly young team. Fortunately, Atlanta will have its star guard back, and hopefully he can continue the scorching-hot start he got out to when the season began.
