Trae Young is Listed on Hawks Initial Injury Report Ahead of Matchup With Chicago; Jalen Johnson Upgraded to Questionable

Atlanta is hitting the road for their matchup vs the Bulls and they could both be getting a big contributor back and also be without their best player.

For the first time in over a month, Jalen Johnson is being listed as questionable on the injury report for the Hawks instead of being listed as out.

There was an update on Johnson's health over the weekend.

Johnson was nearing a return according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. He said that there is optimism that Johnson could return from the injury as soon as Tuesday against the Chicago Bulls and that could be what happens.

While Johnson being questionable is no surprise, Trae Young being questionable is a surprise. Atlanta lists Young as questionable with a right shoulder AC Sprain. If Young is out tomorrow, Atlanta's chances of winning against the Bulls are slim.

An @emoryhealthcare injury report for tomorrow’s game at Chicago:

Jalen Johnson (left distal radius fracture): Questionable
Trae Young (right shoulder AC sprain): Questionable

AJ Griffin (personal reasons): Out
Mouhamed Gueye (right low back stress fracture): Out
De’Andre… pic.twitter.com/ocpWxTqwyt
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 25, 2023

AJ Griffin (Personal Reasons), Mouhamed Gueye (right low back stress fracture), and De'Andre Hunter (right knee inflammation) are all listed as out for tomorrow.

Hawks forward De'Andre Hunter has been dealing with right knee soreness and missed the last two games and the organization announced today that he is going to be undergoing a non-surgical procedure and is going to be reevaluated in two weeks.

This was the press release from the organization from today

"Forward De’Andre Hunter, who has missed the last two games, underwent an MRI on Saturday at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex. Hunter will undergo a non-surgical procedure tomorrow to address right knee inflammation. He will be re-evaluated in approximately two weeks and his status will be updated as appropriate."

Hunter has played in 24 of the 29 games this season. He is currently averaging 14.9 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 1.4 APG on 46.0% shooting from the field and 40.4% from three.

Missing Hunter is big news. The Hawks's biggest weakness is defense and with Jalen Johnson out, they have had to rely on Hunter for perimeter defense and size. With both of them out, it has been a disaster for the Hawks on that end of the floor. Hunter has holes in his game, but he does bring some things that other players on the team can't and the same applies to Johnson. Hopefully, Hunter will be okay and come back healthy soon.

The Hawks face the Bulls tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m.

Breaking: De'Andre Hunter to Undergo Non-Surgical Procedure, Will be Re-Evaluated in Two Weeks

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