It is slowly turning into a nightmare season for the Atlanta Hawks’ medical staff. The team just announced that All-Star candidate Jalen Johnson will miss the rest of the season with a torn labrum, which will greatly cap Atlanta’s ceiling.
Between the latest news on Johnson and Kobe Bufkin’s season-ending shoulder surgery from December, the Hawks cannot catch a break. They are tied with the 12-win New Orleans Pelicans for the fourth-most games missed in the league.
During their current six-game losing streak, the Hawks have only had three players play in all six contests. Trae Young, De’Andre Hunter, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Clint Capela have all missed at least one game during the slump.
Only Onyeka Okongwu, Garrison Mathews, and Vit Krejci have appeared in all six losses. It will be very difficult for the Hawks to gain any sort of consistency moving forward if they continue to deal with an injury-fueled lack of continuity. Atlanta has rolled out a different starting lineup in each of its last four games.
After the Hawks’ latest loss to the Houston Rockets, Quin Snyder addressed his team’s injury woes and how they have opened the door for part-time G Leaguers from the College Park Skyhawks to make some noise. Keaton Wallace, Dominick Barlow, Daeqwon Plowden, and Mouhamed Gueye have all seen rotational minutes for the Hawks as of late.
“We’re in a unique situation right now,” Snyder said. “Dom didn’t play tonight, but he played well against Minnesota. Obviously, Keaton has given us a big boost. And Mo tonight, as well.”
To make matters worse, No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher is dealing with an abductor injury that has sidelined him for seven of Atlanta’s last eight games. The rookie had not missed any of the first 39 games of his career before his perfect bill of health ended on January 15.
The Hawks have managed some good news on the injury front
While they have mostly been ripped to shreds by the injury bug, the Hawks did welcome Larry Nance Jr. back a few games ago from a fractured hand that had sidelined him for most of January. The veteran big man’s return to action comes at a perfect time with Johnson’s absence leaving a huge void to fill in the frontcourt.
Atlanta also saw Ice Trae and the Great Barrier Thief return from one-game absences in the Rockets loss. Bogdanovic was out for nearly a month with a hamstring injury in October and November, but he has mostly been active for the Hawks in recent weeks.
Despite a few silver linings on the injury front, Atlanta may need to scour the trade market for reinforcements. If they want to contend for a playoff berth, the Hawks should look to add more depth at the small forward and power forward positions.
With Johnson done for the year and random injuries bound to keep popping up, the Hawks’ front office could be faced with some tough decisions ahead of the February 6 trade deadline.