It's no secret at this point that Henri Veesaar - Atlanta's most recent second-round selection - is set to miss the entire 2026-27 season after suffering a torn ACL.
While his absence won't directly impact the outlook of Atlanta's nightly rotation, he's going to miss some crucial development opportunities, whether with the main ball club or the College Park Skyhawks.
If this all sounds a little too familiar, it's because ahead of last season, another Hawks rookie faced a near-identical situation. Lamont Butler - the shifty point guard out of Kentucky - missed his entire rookie season after tearing his ACL and meniscus during Skyhawks training camp.
Their situations share similarities but have notable differences
For starters, Atlanta picked up Butler off of waivers following the conclusion of the 2025 NBA Draft. He was an undrafted free agent add. Veesaar - originally anticipated to be a late first-round selection - fell all the way to 52, leaving the Hawks with an incredible opportunity to land one of the night's biggest steals.
What they couldn't have predicted, though, was that the 22-year-old big man who started 31 games for the North Carolina Tar Heels last season, would suffer a season-ending injury before the beginning of training camp. His durability was one of his biggest pre-draft strengths.
An undrafted free agent never enters the NBA with the same set of expectations as a second-round pick. However, their draft status doesn't matter when considering that each of them would've played an almost identical role in their respective rookie seasons.
Even though Atlanta signed Veesaar to a standard, multi-year contract, he was expected to spend the bulk of his first NBA season in College Park. If Butler was healthy for his rookie year, he would've been with them, as well, but on a G League-specific deal with a chance of being upgraded to a two-way.
Butler will get his shot this season, while Veesaar recovers
Patience is key.
Going down before the beginning of a rookie season is an incredibly difficult obstacle to overcome, but as long as Veesaar stays focused on recovery and trusts those around him, maybe he'll get to suit up next season.
Butler will once again be rostered by the Skyhawks, but this time around, he's finally healthy.
If he earns a two-way contract at some point during the upcoming campaign, it will be quite the success story. There's no reason to believe that Veesaar - who has an advantage with his standard deal - won't be able to do the same.
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