Henri Veesaar’s NBA debut will have to wait.
The Atlanta Hawks said Monday that the former North Carolina center tore the ACL in his right knee during a workout last Tuesday, an injury that will require season-ending surgery. An MRI and evaluation at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex confirmed the diagnosis, and Veesaar is scheduled to have surgery with Dr. Kyle Hammond there in October.
It’s a brutal turn for a player who was just beginning to carve out his pro path. Veesaar, a 7-footer, spent one season at UNC after transferring from Arizona and then went No. 52 overall in June’s NBA draft.
The Clippers originally picked him before dealing him to Atlanta. In July, he signed a four-year, roughly $9.3 million contract with the Hawks, according to a Hoops Rumors report on the deal’s structure, which included two guaranteed seasons.
Veesaar’s college season gave Atlanta plenty to like. He averaged 17.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks in 31.5 minutes per game for the Tar Heels, hit 42.6% of his 3-pointers and landed on the 2026 All-ACC Second Team.
The Hawks had planned for him to battle for minutes behind starting center Onyeka Okongwu, while also possibly spending regular time with Atlanta’s G League affiliate as he developed. Instead, the injury wipes out that path before it even gets going.
Atlanta was already dealing with a shortage up front. Mouhamed Gueye has been sidelined since fracturing his foot in July and having surgery, and he is expected to be reevaluated in the next month or two.
With Gueye out and Veesaar now done for the season, the Hawks’ depth at center behind Okongwu and Jock Landale is thinner than expected. Rookie Zuby Ejiofor and forward Asa Newell are now the likely options to pick up some of the minutes that would have gone to Veesaar.
The team did not give a return timeline, but a torn ACL usually keeps players out for nine to 12 months. That makes Veesaar’s NBA debut more likely to come in the 2027-28 season.
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Henri Veesaars Injury Leaves UNC Fans With A Brutal What If
Henri Veesaars path from Chapel Hill to the NBA had barely gotten started when a workout on Sept. 15 changed the picture entirely. The former Tar Heel and 52nd pick in the 2026 NBA Draft had just signed a four-year contract with the Atlanta Hawks, making him one of the latest UNC products to reach the league.
Instead, the MRI and subsequent evaluation at the Emory Sports Medicine Complex revealed a torn right ACL, an injury that will require surgery and keep him out for the entire 2026-27 season. For UNC fans, it is the kind of setback that turns a promising next step into a painful what-if, especially for a player whose pro future had only just begun to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
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For a program trying to steady itself, these are the kinds of games that leave the loudest echoes because they are never just about one drive or one player. The delay, the matchup and the outcome all fed into a familiar Tar Heels debate about execution and decision-making, and it was the coaching side of the ledger that seemed to invite the sharpest second-guessing by the end of the night. [Read more 🡒]