Southeast Notes: Young, Bogdanovic, Porzingis, Oladipo

All-Star point guard Trae Young, who missed the Hawks‘ 117-109 victory over the Nuggets on Friday with a sore shoulder, is back with the team after not being present even on the Atlanta bench or home arena, writes Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscriber link).

“It was just miscommunication in that situation with Trae,” Hawks head coach Nate McMillan said, without offering further details. “Just as simple as that.”

Young and fellow All-Star guard Dejounte Murray have been a huge reason for the Hawks’ solid 13-10 start to the season. Through 21 healthy contests, the 6’1″ Young is averaging 27.8 PPG on .411/.303/.899 shooting splits, along with 9.6 APG, 2.9 RPG and 0.8 SPG.

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

• Hawks reserve guard Bogdan Bogdanovic appreciated the enthusiastic fan reception he received for his first game back from a knee surgery Friday, Williams writes in a separate piece (subscriber link).  “I honestly think it was perfect because I didn’t expect (the reaction), honestly,” Bogdanovic noted. “When I was checking in, I was really calm, like I know what I’m going to do and what is my job, and I was ready. But then, I don’t know, I didn’t expect the ovations and the crowd going crazy… It made me nervous, honestly, like a little kid. That’s how I felt like the first two minutes and everyone’s trying to talk to me, I can’t hear nothing.” Though he scored a modest five points on Friday, the swingman certainly seems positive about his outlook going forward.
• Wizards starting center Kristaps Porzingis has hired a new agent, reports Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News (Twitter link). Excel Sports agent Jeff Schwartz is the 7’3″ big man’s new rep, per Bondy. Porzingis, who has been enjoying a bounce-back season in his first full year with Washington, has a $36MM player option for 2023/24. Through 22 appearances, the 27-year-old is averaging 21.6 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.5 APG, and 1.5 BPG while shooting .470/.364/.800 from the floor for the 11-12 Wizards.
• Heat guard Victor Oladipo is nearing a return from his injured knee, though the timeline is still somewhat up in the air. Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel writes that Oladipo seems optimistic that he could return as soon as this week. “I feel good, been moving a lot more,” Oladipo said. “Just going to make sure it’s the right thing, the right decision collectively. I’m not going to make a decision by myself. Just going to make sure everything feels good and I can perform at the highest level.”