Hawks big man Onyeka Okongwu played some 3-on-3 this week and “came out OK,” head coach Nate McMillan said on Tuesday (Twitter link via Sarah K. Spencer of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). McMillan added that the Hawks will continue to be cautious with Okongwu and that there’s no set timeline for his return from shoulder surgery. Atlanta initially estimated a recovery period of about six months when Okongwu went under the knife in July.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- After ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on Tuesday that the Sixers are hopeful Joel Embiid will be able to return as soon as Saturday, Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) reiterated today that there’s growing optimism about Embiid’s ability to play on Saturday. The star center hasn’t suited up since November 6 due to a case of COVID-19.
- For the first time this season, the Raptors may have a fully healthy roster later this week, per Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. As Smith writes, Yuta Watanabe (calf) and OG Anunoby (hip) are both close to returning, while Khem Birch (knee) and Precious Achiuwa (shoulder) are day-to-day. All four players are currently listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game vs. Memphis.
- Nets head coach Steve Nash doesn’t expect Joe Harris (ankle) to be back for Saturday’s game vs. Phoenix, but is optimistic Bruce Brown (hamstring) will be available by that point, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Nash said Brown wanted to play tonight, but the team is opting to give him a little more recovery time.
Okongwu will help A LOT when he comes back. Our paint defense & rebounding are much weaker whenever Capela sits down. John is playing great defensively as a 4 & as a secondary rim protector this season but he’s not nearly as effective when he has to play the 5 & be the primary rim protector. Gallo is a huge problem for teams offensively when he’s at the 5 but he’s arguably the worst defender in the league as far as vets bigs. Okongwu will be a perfect anchor for the 2nd unit when he returns (hopefully early Jan) & I’m hype to see what he can bring offensively as well
Gallo at the 5 ????????????
No wonder Hawks suck …. Gallo humor, must be
Gallo has played alot of 5 this season. It’s not ideal but obv our backup 5, Okongwu, is hurt. We signed Dieng as a stopgap replacement until Okongwu returns but tbh the Gallo/Collins frontcourt we play when Clint sits is very hard to guard & makes the whole offense just extremely dangerous. Lol you think the Hawks suck I guess every team in the league sucks in your opinion
He’s just living in the past. Al is convinced that the only players even capable of player center in the NBA have to be at least 7 feet tall and 260 pounds. Despite the fact that in the modern NBA, only a small numbers of centers are that big anymore. He may catch up someday.