Hawks’ Trae Young Avoids ACL Injury Against Nets

Atlanta Hawks star guard Trae Young has no issues with his ACL after exiting Wednesday night’s 117-112 road win over the Brooklyn Nets with a right knee sprain, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.

“The most important thing is it is not his ACL,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said after the game. “He’s going to get an MRI tonight or tomorrow, and make a determination from there. Not sure how long or what respect, but something he’s hopefully going to be back from whenever possible.”

Nets’ Noah Clowney Fell Backward Into Trae Young’s Leg

Young was standing under the basket when teammate Mouhamed Gueye — after being pushed in the chest by Nets forward Noah Clowney — fell backward and into Young’s leg, sending him crashing to the floor.

The 6-foot-1 Young was down on the court in pain for a while before he stood up and jogged to the bench during the ensuing timeout. He remained in the game once play resumed.

However, after seeing Young on the court for a few moments, Snyder took him out 17 seconds later. The four-time All-Star immediately headed to the locker room.

Trae Young tried to stay in the game but left after a few seconds of game action to the locker room after this collision with Mo Gueye. pic.twitter.com/m23RBXukCO

— Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) October 30, 2025

“He didn’t want to come out of the game,” Snyder said. “He’s such a competitor. He takes a lot of pride in being available … You saw it tonight, too. He tried to stay in there. He told me, ‘Just give me a couple minutes,’ and I told him, ‘If I don’t like what I see, I’m taking you out.'”

Despite avoiding a serious injury, the Hawks could be without their star guard for quite some time. It’s unfortunate news for the club, as Atlanta improved to 2-3 to start the season after defeating the winless Nets (0-5).

Hawks Coach Quin Snyder Expected To Shuffle Starting Roles

Although the Hawks entered the season following a summer that saw the team trade for Kristaps Porzingis and sign Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard in free agency, Young is one player they won’t be able to replace.

In 76 games as a full-time starter with the Hawks last season, Young averaged 24.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, a career high and NBA-leading 11.6 assists, 1.2 steals, and 36 minutes per contest.

Snyder will now have to adjust his starting lineup with Young off the court.

“Anytime a player of Trae’s caliber, particularly someone that has the ball and is orchestrating situations on the offensive end, that’s an adjustment we had to make on the fly,” Snyder said.

“Whether it was Luke [Kennard] or Nickeil or Dyson [Daniels] or [Jalen Johnson], the key thing when we are playing that way is everybody has got to be willing to play with the pass, and try to get advantages that way.

“It’s something we’ll keep working on, depending where Trae is with his health.”

The Hawks continue their four-game trip at Indiana on Friday.