Tim Hardaway Jr. Injury: Hawks Guard Out vs. Nuggets with Injured Groin

Tim Hardaway Jr.'s hope for a strong second season with the Atlanta Hawks hit a snag, as the fourth-year guard will not play Friday night against the Denver Nuggets due to a groin injury, per Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  

Hardaway initially injured the groin during Wednesday night's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves and had to leave the game early, via Vivlamore.

The Hawks acquired Hardaway from New York during the 2015 draft for the 19th overall pick. He struggled in two seasons with the Knicks, shooting 40.8 percent from the floor in 151 games, so Atlanta gave him an opportunity to reinvent himself. 

Last year didn't present Hardaway many opportunities to make an impact. He was inactive for most of the games early in the season and was briefly demoted to the NBA Development League before returning to Atlanta on Jan. 5. 

Hardaway did show promise as a deep shooter in his rookie year, hitting 36.3 percent from beyond the arc, but he had a true shooting percentage of 51.2 that ranked 46th out of 84 qualified shooting guards in 2014-15.

He did show strong improvement last year with a true shooting percentage of 56.3 that ranked 16th at the position. 

The Hawks are fortunate to have Kyle Korver as their starting shooting guard, so they can get by without Hardaway. However, their lack of depth at the 2 will likely force them to rely on the former Michigan star at some point this season. 

Stats per ESPN.com.