One day removed from an embarrassing Falcons home loss, surely Atlanta sports fans would be able to catch their breaths and relax the next day... right?
Unfortunately, the injury bug persists, well before the Hawks' 2026-27 season is set to begin. First, it was Mo Gueye, and most recently, it was their second-round rookie.
Henri Veesaar - selected 52nd overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2026 NBA Draft - is expected to miss the entire 2026-27 season with a torn right ACL. He suffered the injury on September 15, and following an MRI, he received the news no athlete ever wants to hear.
BREAKING: Henri Veesaar tore his ACL and will miss the entire 2026-27 season.
— Zach Langley (@ZachLangleyNBA) September 21, 2026
Luckily for Atlanta, in the midst of this obviously unfortunate news, Veesaar wasn't the only high-potential rookie they brought in this summer.
Atlanta's other two rookies now have higher responsibility
Especially Zuby.
While Kingston Flemings will certainly miss his draft mate during his upcoming rookie campaign, they didn't share any positional overlap, leaving minimal effect on his expected nightly minutes.
Still, every bench player who gets hurt gives Flemings extra incentive to stay healthy and not miss a beat while facilitating for the entire unit. That's a lot of pressure for a 19-year-old point guard.
Ejiofor's situation is where things get a bit tricky.
Yes, he was going to have more immediate rotation priority than Veesaar for obvious reasons. A late first-round pick will always get the initial chance. An injury to Onyeka Okongwu or Jock Landale, though, would immediately insert Ejiofor into the backup center role. He can no longer afford significant growing pains.
Atlanta isn't anticipating him being perfect. What rookie ever is? The Hawks, on paper, have a crowded frontcourt. But with two players down for a lengthy period of time, maybe the front office will need to take a step back and re-evaluate the situation.
They shouldn't, in any case scenario, rely too heavily on Ejiofor in his rookie season. However, they may not have much of a choice.
Familiarity should help them succeed in the wake of Veesaar's injury
Not the familiarity of the rookies, of course, as they're brand new to the team, but the bulk of the roster.
For the most part, Atlanta decided to keep their core together as they enter a pivotal 2026-27 season. They found some playoff success last time out, and they're looking to build off of it.
It sucks that Veesaar won't get a real year of development in a winning situation for his rookie campaign, but maybe the extra pressure on Atlanta's other rookies will be necessary to theirs.
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