When will Trae Young return for the Atlanta Hawks?
Sitting at 10th in the East, the Atlanta Hawks face a possible date with the Chicago Bulls in the Play-In Tournament. Trae Young’s return would help a lot.
It’s been a tough time for the Hawks in the absence of their star point guard. Now that he’s on the verge of returning to the team following injury, it may be that the Hawks can salvage something from their campaign as they look destined for the NBA’s Play-In Tournament.
Hawks give Trae Young the green light to practice
According to reports on Monday, the Atlanta Hawks officially cleared Trae Young to return to practice. The decision comes roughly six weeks after he underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left hand. To be clear, there has been no official word on when Young will actually play in a game for the Hawks, but at this point, we are just about one week away from the start of the NBA’s Play-In Tournament.
Regarding how the problem itself occurred, it was back in February during a loss to the Toronto Raptors when Young sustained the injury to his left hand. The following day, an MRI revealed that he had in fact torn a ligament in his pinkie finger which in turn meant there was no other option than to go under the knife just a few days later. At the time it was reported that he would miss a minimum of four weeks. Ultimately, it was six and here we are. Needless to say, the loss of Young’s team-high average of 26.4 points and 10.8 assists which was good enough for an All-Star nod, has been a major blow to a team that was already having a tough time.
In the time that the 25-year-old has been out, the Hawks have gone 12-10 and are now slated to play on Tuesday night against the Miami Heat who are currently 8th in the conference. At 36-42 record, they do have a playoff berth, however, their road now goes through the Chicago Bulls who sit just one game in front of them in 9th. Now, with four games left the possibility of overtaking the Bulls does exist, and even more so if they can get Young back in the mix for their last games. If on the other hand, Young can’t play until then, the Hawks could be in for a seriously difficult path into the playoffs. For now, we can only wait and watch.