Atlanta Hawks: How bad is De’Andre Hunter’s knee injury

The Atlanta Hawks have had a difficult opening month of the season with injury after injury to some really key pieces. Clint Capela missed the first two games and Kris Dunn has not even made the court. Tony Snell and Onyeka Okongwu both had delayed starts to the season.

The problem for the Hawks is that it did not stop there.  Danilo Gallinari missed time with an ankle sprain and both Cam Reddish and Rajon Rondo have missed multiple games with knee injuries. All of this has hurt the rotation and presented a challenge to coach Lloyd Pierce.

However, the worst injury the Hawks have suffered this season is to De’Andre Hunter. The versatile second-year man left the court during the Washington Wizards game, the team announced it was due to knee discomfort.

The Atlanta Hawks need De’Andre Hunter back as soon as possible

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The Hawks tried a non-surgical procedure on Hunter’s knee to see if they could get away without having to perform surgery. If it had worked, Hunter would have been back sooner. However,  Hunter’s knee obviously did not respond to the treatment and now he faces a surgical procedure.

Hunter will undergo a lateral meniscus arthroscopic debridement procedure which is the best-case scenario for knee surgery.  The recovery is usually fairly short which is potentially good news for the Hawks.

The Hawks have announced that t Hunter will be re-evaluated in two weeks but this is a best-case scenario. If he can recover in this time then the Hawks will be getting back to full strength just prior to the All-Star break.

However, this is still seven or eight games during a crucial period of the fixture where they play the Indiana Pacers once and the Boston Celtics twice. This stretch could be crucial for the Hawks’ playoff chances and they are going to have to do it without the third cornerstone, De’Andre Hunter.