Atlanta Hawks Injury Report: Ailing All-Star Takes Big Step Post-Surgery

All-Star Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young remains on the mend from a torn radial collateral ligament in his left fifth finger. He had surgery to deal with the injury on February 27. Now, it appears he’s finally nearing a comeback. Per the Atlanta Hawks’ official X account, he underwent a reassessment earlier this week.

As the Hawks note, Young is progressing steadily. This week, he is set to “introduce small finger motion exercises” back into his arsenal.

In the 51 games he’s been healthy enough to play, the 6’1″ Oklahoma product, 25, is averaging 26.4 points on .426/.371/.856 shooting splits, 10.8 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals this season. The Hawks have had an uneven season with and without Young on the hardwood, but remain in the thick of the postseason hunt as the regular season nears its end.

The Hawks have gone 8-7 across the 15 completed games they’ve played since Young went down. Young’s backcourt Dejounte Murray has taken on more of a playmaking role with Young out, to generally positive results. The Hawks’ most recent — and indeed most impressive — win was a bonkers 120-118 victory on Monday, nabbed in a comeback from a 30-point deficit against the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded Boston Celtics on Monday.

Reserve combo guard Bogdan Bogdanovic has been starting in Young’s stead. He scored 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field (4-of-7 from deep), pulled down four rebounds, dished out three dimes, and swiped one steal in the offing. In the 14 games he’s started with Young sidelined (he was shelved for one himself), Bogdanovic is averaging 15.4 points on .408/.404/.885 shooting splits, 3.9 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.1 steals a night.

Tonight, the Hawks will host the skidding Portland Trail Blazers. Portland actually won the two teams’ last encounter two weeks ago, 106-102.

At 32-39 on the year, the Hawks are just 1.5 games behind the ninth-seeded Chicago Bulls (34-38), losers of four straight, in the Eastern Conference standings. The Trail Blazers have lost seven games in a row, and own the second-lowest record in the West at 19-53.

Atlanta’s heliocentric offense surrounding Young may rub teammates and rivals the wrong way on occasion, but he’s a terrific scorer and distributor when he’s on, and for the Hawks to reach their ceiling this season (such as it is, anyway), he needs to be out there. The team has 11 contests remaining on its regular season slate, including tonight’s contest against the Trail Blazers.

With so little time left, one wonders just when Young will see action again. And what he’ll look like when he does.