Fantasy Basketball Impact of Trae Young's Injury | Which Hawks Should You Play While Young is Out?

Discussing the injury to Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young and what players to target while he's out of action.

Some of the biggest news from the NBA over the weekend was the injury to Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young. 

Let’s discuss the injury to the star guard, take a guess at how things might shake out without him on the court and then highlight some players to utilize while he’s out of action.

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Young’s Season Numbers

Young was injured during the team’s loss to the Toronto Raptors on Friday night. It’s a finger injury that will keep him out at least a month - depending on where the Hawks are in the standings at that point, Young could possibly be shut down for the season.

Across 51 games this season, Young was averaging 26.4 points, 10.8 assists, 2.7 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.2 blocks across 36.5 minutes played. He was shooting 42.6% overall, 37.1% from 3-point land and 85.6% from the free-throw line. He’s currently ranked eighth on the FantasySP Trade Value Chart.

I’m not really sure why, but Young doesn't get as much media love despite being one of the better players in the game. Maybe it’s because the Hawks aren’t that good? Who knows, but make no mistake about it, Young is one of the better guards in the game, and was one of the best fantasy players this season.

His loss is a massive blow to the Hawks’ playoff chances. He was leading the team in points, assists and steals. 

Hawks’ Fantasy Outlook

With Young out, Dejounte Murray will be the face of the team (at least on the offensive side of the floor) until he returns.

Murray is averaging 21.6 points, 5.5 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 0.3 blocks across 35.1 minutes over the 54 games he’s appeared in. I could see his averages for points, assists and minutes all going up, and with more minutes, his steals, rebounds and blocks could also increase. His shooting percentages (46.7/36/82.5) could all take a slight dip since there’s a ton of shots to make up with Young out.

Bodgan Bogdanovic started in the team’s first game without Young on Sunday. For the season, Bogdanovic is averaging 16.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.3 blocks across 29.1 minutes. He played 35 minutes in Sunday’s game, and the increase in minutes per game will give him a chance to up his averages across the board.

Even though Clint Capela is the team’s center, that doesn’t mean his fantasy impact won’t change without Young around. He’s played less than 20 minutes in two straight games, so unless that number increases, it’ll be difficult for him to make a fantasy difference. 

For the season, Capela is averaging 11.2 points, 10.4 boards, 1.5 blocks, 1 assists and 0.6 steals across 25.4 minutes and 49 games (all starts).

Onyeka Okongwu is dealing with an injury of his own - he’s expected to be out a couple more weeks. He’s averaged 10.2 points, 7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.1 blocks and 0.4 steals across 25.8 minutes and 53 games played (eight starts). Without Young around, Okongwu could have been asked to score a little bit more, but the injury will prevent that for the time being.

Jalen Johnson is another player who could see an uptick in fantasy production with Young out. Johnson averaged 15.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks across 34.2 minutes and 43 games played (40 starts). He had 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists across 39 minutes in the first game without Young.

De'Andre Hunter is another wing player, but could help replace Young. He’s played in 33 games (24 starts) and averaged 28.3 minutes, 15.2 points, 4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.3 blocks this season. In the first game without Young around, Hunter tallied 18 points, seven rebounds and two assists and steals across 28 minutes - it might just be an outlier as he averaged 14 field goal attempts in the previous three games.

Saddiq Bey is yet another forward who could play a bit bigger role for the next month. He’s averaging 13.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.1 blocks across 32.6 minutes in the 56 games (44 starts) he’s made. Bey had 12 points in the first game without Young.

Bruno Fernando, Garrison Mathews and Kobe Bufkin were the only other players to play in the first game without Young. Wesley Matthews and Patty Mills did not play, but could factor in at some point while Young is out.

How to Proceed

With Young out, and Okongwu also dinged up, the Hawks are kind of a mess right now. 

Murray is the Hawk that should put up the biggest fantasy numbers with Young out. I’m not sure he’ll blow past his averages for the next month, but he’ll at least have the chance to. 

He’s probably going to cost a little bit extra in a trade given the current situation, but he’s a good fantasy option with Young around too, so it’s not like this is just a move for the next month. If I owned Murray, I’d actually flip his name on the trade block to see if another owner (maybe the one who had Young) decides to offer a good haul for Murray.

Bogdanovic should get some extra scoring opportunities, and would be a cheaper acquisition than Murray. He’s not quite the all-around fantasy asset that Murray is, but his value will be elevated for at least the next month.

I’m a big fan of Johnson, and think this will be the time for him to really cement himself as a cornerstone piece a team could build around. His trade price might not be too terrible either, so he’s one of my favorite targets among Hawks’ players.

Bey and Hunter are both waiver wire options in a lot of standard leagues. Both are pretty solid fantasy assets even with Young playing, so if you rostered Young, Bey and Hunter could help fill the void for the next month. 

Capela is owned in nearly every league, but his low minutes of late has forced a few fantasy owners to move on from him. While the past couple games say to avoid him, if he’s available in your league, I’d add him. He’s a double-double machine when on the court, and I think his minutes will go up as time passes (he did just return from a couple-week absence, so that explains the lower amount of minutes the past two games). Plus, the Hawks need to cover a lot of points, and Capela can help accomplish that, especially with Okongwu out.

As for what to do with Young, you could see if another fantasy owner wants to take him on for the rest of the season. Given the month-long absence and then possibility that he could miss even more time if the Hawks are out of the playoff picture, you probably won’t get a huge return for him, but you could get some fantasy help instead of having Young possibly waste a roster spot for the next month.

If you can throw Young on the injured reserve list, my suggestion would be to try to either stream fantasy players (check back soon for this week's streaming story) for the next month, or try to package a couple players up to go get another fantasy star. You likely won’t be able to fill the big void left by Young, but you might just need to tread water for a month, and then you’ll possibly get Young back for the stretch run.

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