Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams will require surgery to repair torn left wrist ligaments and miss the next four to six months of the NBA season, the team announced Friday.
Williams suffered the injury in Thursday's 104-103 home loss to the New York Knicks, which left both clubs level with Washington and Charlotte atop the Eastern Conference at 4-1 on the season.
The 20-year-old American, taken fourth overall in last year's NBA Draft, averaged 9.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists a game last season as a rookie.
Williams averaged 6.6 points and 2.2 rebounds a game for the Bulls in five appearances this season.
But he landed on his left wrist when delivered a flagrant foul by New York's Mitchell Robinson on Thursday.
Williams was among the players being counted upon to play a key role for a revamped Bulls squad around standout Zach LaVine.
Chicago also assembled guard Lonzo Ball, Montenegrin center Nikola Vucevic and forward DeMar DeRozan around LaVine to try and make the Bulls a contender.
The Bulls haven't reached the playoffs since 2017, haven't had a winning season since 2015-16 and haven't reached the Eastern Conference final since 2011.
Not since Michael Jordan's last crown in 1998 have the Bulls won the NBA title.
NBA fines Atlanta's Young for bumping referee in back
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young was fined $15,000 by the NBA for making contact with a game referee, the league announced on Friday.
The incident occurred with 6:41 remaining in the second quarter of Atlanta's 122-111 loss Thursday at Washington when Young ran into the back of an official after making a basket.
Young is averaging 24.2 points with 10.0 assists, second-best in the NBA, and 3.0 rebounds a game for the Hawks, who are off to a 3-2 start this season.
The 23-year-old American point guard was selected fifth overall by Dallas in the 2018 NBA Draft but traded to the Hawks for Luka Doncic.
In three NBA seasons, Young has averaged 24.1 points and 8.9 assists a game for the Hawks.
After three straight losing seasons, the Hawks advanced to the Eastern Conference final last season with Young sparking the run.
He averaged 28.8 points and 9.5 assists a game in last year's playoffs as Atlanta eliminated New York and Philadelphia before falling to the eventual NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks.