The Hawks will not have guard Trae Young in the lineup Tuesday for their NBA Cup opener against the Celtics.
Young, who has played in each of the team’s 11 games this season, has been ruled out with right Achilles tendinitis. A right rib sprain forced Young into an early exit during a 123-93 loss to the Celtics Nov. 4. Young is averaging 23.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 11.5 assists in 36.5 minutes per game.
The Hawks have had to lean heavily on Young in the absence of several key rotational players. Two of the Hawks’ primary ballhandlers coming off the bench in Kobe Bufkin and Vit Krejci have been dealing with injuries that have sidelined them for several games. Bufkin has yet to make his season debut due to a right shoulder subluxation. Krejci has missed the last seven games with a right adductor strain.
They have also been without Bogdan Bogdanovic, who has often given them a strong secondary ballhandler due right hamstring tendinopathy.
The Hawks have struggled in the minutes without Young on the floor despite handling those minutes by committee.
The Hawks are a plus-8.9 points per 100 possessions played and they’re able to knock down 1.2% more corner 3s when Young is on the court versus off. They’re also able to get out in transition off of live rebounds after getting a stop when he’s on versus when he’s not.
They’ve turned to two-way guard Keaton Wallace as their primary ballhandler when Young goes to the bench. While Wallace has given them some strong minutes in bursts, it hasn’t been enough to sustain the production the team needs.
They also have guard Dyson Daniels, who has logged most of his minutes at shooting guard and just 7% of his minutes as the team’s point guard. On top of that, Daniels has often had his hands full on the defensive end and the Hawks haven’t been able to capitalize on his ability to create for others.
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