Trae Young Discusses Hawks Early Season Injuries: "Yeah, It's Not Very... It's Not Fun."

Young and the Hawks lost to the Washington Wizards on Monday night and injuries played a big role

Oct 28, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; An Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) drives to the basket against Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (0) during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Injuries played a huge role in the Atlanta Hawks' disappointing season a year ago and they are already starting to be a factor early on in this campaign. While far from the only reason they lost last night to the Washington Wizards, it should be noted that the Hawks were down De'Andre Hunter (starter), Onyeka Okongwu (playing the majority of center minutes), Kobe Bufkin (was the top option to backup Trae Young), and Bogdan Bogdanovic (Hawks 3rd best player) and then in the second quarter, Vit Krejci went down with an injury and did not return. Krejci took over the backup point guard duties with Bufkin hurt and now the Hawks could be very thin at point guard going forward, which places more on the shoulders of Trae Young.

After the game, Young talked about the injuries the Hawks have right now and how that affects him:

"Yeah, it's not very, it's not fun. Obviously I wish my team was fully healthy. I feel like I've been through this a lot since I've been here every year. So just wish I could have everybody out there with me. I know it would make a lot more, a lot of things a lot more easier for me. But we got to figure it out and it's the next man, the next man up mentality I know it's very cliche and everybody says it, but we've got to live by it and we've got to move forward."

Young has been awesome this season, but last night was rough. He scored six points and hit two shots in the first few minutes of the game, but he missed his final 13 shots, including the game-winner. Young finished with 14 points and 13 assists on 2-15 shooting, including 2-10 from three. He did not hit a two-point shot and seemed to struggle with Bilal Coulibaly all night long. No player is immune from a bad game and the Hawks are asking Young to do a lot with the backups out, but it was not a good performance.

Coming into the year, one of the big question marks for the Hawks was who would be the backup point guard and handle the ball handling duties when Trae Young was off the floor. That was previously handles by Dejounte Murray, but it was something that was a question mark. Second year guard Kobe Bufkin was the player that was supposed to step up in that role, but he is dealing with an injury. Krejci then took over before getting hurt last night, but even before his injury, it was a mixed bag.

If the Hawks want to make a push for the playoffs, they have to figure this out. It won't be easy though considering their options.

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