The Atlanta Hawks will need to survive without the team’s best player for at least a month.
Trae Young suffered a knee injury during the Hawks’ Wednesday contest against the Brooklyn Nets. The team announced Saturday that the All-Star point guard was diagnosed with a right knee sprain and will be out for “approximately four weeks.”
The positive news for Atlanta is that there was “no additional structural damage” to the knee, which is a win for the Hawks after his scary collision with a teammate.
An @emoryhealthcare injury update:
Trae Young, who left Wednesday’s game at Brooklyn due to a right knee sprain, underwent an MRI on Friday at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex. The MRI confirmed a right knee MCL sprain and no additional structural damage. Young has begun… pic.twitter.com/hXebsQp54J
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) November 1, 2025
Young has had a down season for the Hawks thus far. Through five games, the Oklahoma alum has averaged just 17.8 points and 7.8 assists on 37.1% shooting from the field — which would all be career lows across a full season.
The 27-year-old’s outside shot has also deserted him thus far. He has shot just 5/26 from beyond the arc, which is a miserable 19.2% clip.
However, Young remains the engine that runs Atlanta’s offense. Atlanta caught a break in its first game without the lead guard, picking up a victory against a winless Indiana Pacers team. But how the team performs during the month without Young could be a make-or-break period for the Hawks’ season.