If you weren't aware, the Atlanta Hawks lost superstar and team leader Trae Young early in their Oct. 29 game against the Brooklyn Nets. Luckily, they walked out with the win (although fans will likely consider the W not worth the price they paid). And doubly lucky, Young managed to avoid the worst news: Despite him already being ruled out of Atlanta's NBA Cup opener against the Indiana Pacers on Friday, he left Brooklyn with a knee sprain instead of a much-more-dreaded ACL tear.
As for how long Young will be out, that leaves much to be said. To reiterate, he's already been ruled out of Atlanta's Halloween matchup with Indiana, and will likely become a day-to-day decision until he's fully healed.
And with the way Atlanta's playing, this could actually be lucky three times over from a certain point of view. Counting their victory over the Nets, the Hawks have only two wins on the season in total, the other being over the wildly disappointing Orlando Magic. And not to pile on, but losing by a wider margin to the Raptors (138-118) than to the defending champs (117-100) should tell you about where this Hawks team is headed this year. They were supposed to be a playoff team in 2026, but early on, they might be banished to the play-in at best.
What this Trae Young injury means, for them, then, is a good bit of borrowed time. Time enough, perhaps, to see what they could be capable of without him.
The Hawks' intriguing roster with or without Trae Young
Let's not forget that Young is still operating without having agreed to an extension with the Hawks' front office. And while reports have been lacking as to any trade rumors surrounding him, analysts haven't been able to help but make young the subject of a long list of hypothetical targets.
The rumors have largely centered around the rest of Atlanta's roster, their young three-headed monster in particular. Dyson Daniels is the current reigning Most Improved Player, and was only beat out by Cleveland's Evan Mobley in DPOY voting. Meanwhile, Zaccharie Risacher finished second in last season's ROY race, and Jalen Johnson seemed poised for a Most Improved Player campaign himself before he went down to injury early this past year. On paper, this is an incredible core to start building around.
The issue is that early on in the season, Jalen Johnson has been the only player on the roster to truly build on previous success (20.5 PPG, 7 RPG, 4.3 APG, 22.4 PER). Daniels, while still a positive impact on defense, is only averaging just over 5 points per game in thirty minutes of play. Risacher has similarly dropped from 12.6 to 8.7 points per game. In fact, Johnson's true running mate in Atlanta so far has been veteran Kristaps Porzingis, who has averaged 20.5 points and a block on a 25.1 PER. It stands to reason that being without Trae Young, one of the best passers in the NBA, that Atlanta's offense will stall even worse without him.
But then again, through all this, Young still has the highest usage rate on the team (29.4%). The makeup of the offense will certainly change without him, but he will be leaving behind a lot of touches. And for the Hawks, who have had a season that no one could have expected so far, such a gap must be seen as an opportunity.