Hawks boosted by return of injured superstar

For nearly two months the Atlanta Hawks have been without star player Trae Young but the team looks set to welcome him back on Thursday.

Young has been out since October 29, when he sustained a right MCL strain in a win against the Brooklyn Nets. The reigning NBA assists leader has not been seen since October and the Hawks have been without him for 22 games at the start of the 2025/26 season.

His injury status was upgraded to ‘probable’ after he was able to return to full practice on Wednesday and ESPN has reported that Young is going to make his long-awaited return against the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night.

“It’s my knee, something that had to take a little more time than some other injuries,” Young said on Wednesday. “I feel good... They wouldn’t even allow me to come back or even be close to coming back if my conditioning wasn’t right or close to it.”

“I see certain things that our team is doing really good that I want to keep allowing our team to do,” he continued. “But then there are times when we are struggling or times when it looks kind of tough on guys, and I want to make it easier for them.

He returns to an Atlanta team with a 15-12 record, good enough for seventh place in the Eastern Conference. In their most recent outing the Hawks picked up a 120-117 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, with a 27-point performance from Dyson Daniels.

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