It’s not the biggest piece of good news Thabo Sefolosha has had this week — that would be Friday morning, when he was cleared of any wrongdoing in a court case stemming from an April nightclub incident in New York, in which his leg was broken by a police officer. But Sefolosha and the Hawks got another piece of good news on Saturday: head coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters that it’s likely Sefolosha will play in Wednesday’s preseason game against the Spurs.
From Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
It appears Thabo Sefolosha could make his exhibition debut on Wednesday, according to coach Mike Budenholzer.
Sefolosha missed all last week, which included the Hawks’ first two exhibition games, while in New York for the trial that ended with his acquittal on three misdemeanor charges.
The Hawks play the Spurs at Philips Arena Wednesday.
“We’ll see how these next couple of days go but I’d say I am, we are, hopeful that he’ll at least be able to play a few minutes on Wednesday.”
Sefolosha reiterated Saturday that he is still not at 100 percent but is eager to get on with training camp in preparation for the season.
The broken leg Sefolosha suffered in the April incident forced him to miss the entire 2015 playoffs, so it’s good news that he’s at least healthy enough to be able to give it a go in preseason now. The Hawks lost DeMarre Carroll over the summer, so Sefolosha will be their most important perimeter defender if he can get all the way back.