Atlanta Hawks star point guard Trae Young is nearing a return from his knee injury after being upgraded to questionable to play Thursday against the Hornets in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Young was a full participant in practice Wednesday. It was his second practice after he scrimmaged with the Skyhawks, Atlanta's G League affiliate, on Tuesday.
Young has been out since he suffered a right MCL sprain during a win against the Nets in Brooklyn on Oct. 29.
"It's my knee, something that had to take a little more time than some other injuries," Young told reporters after practice in Atlanta on Wednesday. "... I feel good. [My conditioning is] going to get better as you play. They wouldn't even allow me to come back or even be close to coming back if my conditioning wasn't right or close to it."
Atlanta is 15-12 despite dealing with numerous injuries over the past month. Young has missed 22 straight games.
Young said during his time out, he saw how the Hawks thrived at times and how to sustain that while adding to areas that the team has struggled in without him.
"I see certain things that our team is doing really good that I want to keep allowing our team to do," he said. "But then there are times when we are struggling or times when it looks kind of tough on guys, and I want to make it easier for them.
"For me since Day 1, I've always felt I was a puzzle piece to the big puzzle. I never felt like I was the whole puzzle. I'm about to come back and do the same thing, just be another piece to the puzzle and try to fit in."
The reigning NBA assists champion, Young is averaging 17.8 points and 7.8 assists this season.