Tiago Splitter of the Atlanta Hawks will undergo season ending surgery, and it may impact the Hawks’ trade deadline moves.
The Atlanta Hawks have been present in several trade rumors this past week leading up to the NBA trade deadline, but a recent development to an injury in their frontcourt may cause them to reconsider their moves in the coming days.
According to Chris Vivlamore, forward Tiago Splitter will be ending his season with surgery on his right hip. Splitter has not played since January 31st. Splitter didn’t have one specific incident throughout the season, according to Vivlamore, but a source close to the situation said that Splitter has had his hip bothering him all season. The Hawks sat him for all of February in hopes that it would get better, but it appears as if it has not. Splitter took the All-Star break time to think about the injury and has ultimately decided surgery is best for his situation.
Hawks' Tiago Splitter has elected to have season-ending surgery on his right hip.
— Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) February 16, 2016
The Hawks have been rumored to be shopping around players from their backcourt such as Dennis Schroder and Jeff Teague, but with an impactful player like Splitter out of the picture for the rest of the season leading up to the playoffs, they may need all the arsenal they can get. Splitter hasn’t started many games, but has been a decent off-the-bench player averaging 5.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, while playing an average of just 16.1 minutes per game.
Another rumor that has been brought up for the team is the option to move Al Horford. The Hawks were already going to be asking for a lot in return for Horford, a player averaging 15.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, but with their frontcourt now down one man, Horford’s value to the Hawks continues to rise.
The Hawks already had a lot to consider this week, and this blow to their roster makes the decisions even more complex.