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Hawks' Trae Young Ruled Out vs. Bucks After Suffering Ankle Injury
December 28, 2019
Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young exited Friday night's game against the Milwaukee Bucks after suffering a sprained right ankle, the team's public relations department announced.
Young looked to hurt his ankle while going down during a play in which he called for an offensive foul, Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relayed, before teammates Kevin Huerter and John Collins assisted him off the court.
X-rays on Young's ankle came back negative. He will not travel with the team to Saturday's game against the Chicago Bulls.
Young has quickly emerged as one of the league's most dynamic offensive threats since he was selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft. He averaged 19.1 points for the Hawks as a rookie and he's on pace to easily surpass that mark in his second professional season (29.0 points per game).
The 21-year-old University of Oklahoma product has remained mostly durable during his rise toward stardom. He played all 32 games during his only college season with the Sooners and made 81 appearances last season for Atlanta.
He suffered an ankle injury during the early stages of the current campaign, though.
The Hawks will likely use a committee approach to fill the void when their starting point guard is forced from the lineup. DeAndre' Bembry, Huerter, Vince Carter and Evan Turner could all see an uptick in playing time as part of the backcourt rotation.
All told, Atlanta is starting to build a promising foundation, and its improvement will be helped by playing in the weaker Eastern Conference. It isn't ready to seriously contend at this stage, however, which means the team can afford to play it safe with Young as he works back to full strength.