There won’t be much of the second half of the season left for Trae Young to play in.
The Atlanta Hawks announced on Sunday that their All-Star guard Young suffered a left hand injury during Friday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors. An MRI has revealed that Young tore the radial collateral ligament (RCL) in the fifth finger of his left hand.
Young is now set to undergo surgery and will be re-evaluated in four weeks, the Hawks add.
The 25-year-old Young is obviously the engine that makes the Hawks offense go. He is turning in perhaps his best statistical season yet with averages of 26.4 points and a career-high 10.8 assists a game. Young just earned the third All-Star selection of his career (which came after some controversy) and is one of the very best all-around shot creators in the league today.
Young’s four-week timetable means that he will be sidelined through at least late March. That would leave just 12 regular season games at most for Young to still play in. The Hawks are currently 24-32 and clinging to the final play-in spot in the East. Should the bottom fall out for them in Young’s absence, they might even consider shutting Young down for the season should the circumstances call for it. That would only increase the uncertainty over Young’s future in Atlanta (as he has already been facing rumors of a potential trade this coming offseason).
