Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young out at least 4 weeks with sprained medial collateral ligament

ATLANTA (AP) — Reigning NBA assist champion Trae Young will likely miss about a month with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee, the Atlanta Hawks said on Saturday.

Young was hurt Wednesday in the Hawks' game at Brooklyn, then had an MRI exam on Friday to determine the extent of the injury.

The Hawks had already ruled out any potential issue with the anterior cruciate ligament, and the MRI showed no additional structural damage other than the MCL sprain. Young has already started rehab, the team said.

Young will be reevaluated in about four weeks, the Hawks said.

If that timetable holds, Young will likely miss at least 15 games because of the injury — and that would already have him in jeopardy of being ineligible for season-ending awards like All-NBA selection because of the league's rule saying players need to appear in 65 games for consideration on those ballots.

Young was averaging 20.8 points through four games, then had six points in the game against Brooklyn before he had to leave after seven minutes of action. That dropped his average for the season to 17.8 points per game.

Young is a four-time All-Star and won the league's assist title for the first time last season.