Atlanta Hawks Reveal Trae Young Injury Recovery Timetable

Who will step up?

Because it is early in the season and Young will be re-evaluated in four weeks, I don't anticipate the Hawks going to the free agent market to find a guard or trading for one. It is hard to make a trade in this part of the season and the options in the point guard free agent market is not robust.

I would expect Nickeil Alexander-Walker to continue starting for Atlanta, as it would give them a lethal defensive backcourt with Dyson Daniels. Daniels, Keaton Wallace, and possibly Vit Krejci will also have to step up to make sure that the Hawks play well over the next four weeks.

It had not been a good start for Dyson Daniels on the offensive end this season, but the Hawks needed him to step up with Young out, and he did just that. He was solid on defense as always, and he was more aggressive on the offensive end.

Daniels finished the game with 18 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, shooting 8-13 from the field while also getting three steals. Daniels is going to have to raise his game if Young is out for a lengthy period of time and last night was a good showing for him.

Like Daniels, it had not been a good start to the season for Wallace, who had been coming off the bench in a reserve role. Like Daniels, Wallace needed to step up with Young out with an injury and luckily for the Hawks, he turned in his best performance of the season.

Keaton Wallace came off the bench and scored 11 points and dished out seven assists in the game, playing a little more than 16 minutes. Again, if Young is out, Wallace is certainly going to play a role on the team and last night was a good sign for the Hawks.

This and transition defense have been the biggest weaknesses for the Hawks so far. Atlanta did better in limiting the Pacers opportunities to get out and run and limit their effectiveness in the paint, but the defensive rebounding was still not where the Hawks need it to be. They are going to face bigger and more talented teams and if they can't begin to rebound better, it could be a fatal flaw.

Admittedly, the Hawks were playing an opponent that was dealing with a lot of injuries and did not have much offensive talent outside of Pascal Siakam, but this was a good defensive performance from the Hawks.

Inserting Nickeil Alexander-Walker into the starting lineup was likely going to give the Hawks a boost on that end of the floor, but the results were still good. Indiana shot 35% from the field and 28% from three. The big test for the Hawks defense is going to come on Sunday when they face the Cleveland Cavaliers.