Although it’s a bit of a rarity for the Utah Jazz, they actually got some promising news on the injury front this afternoon.
As my J-Notes colleague Ryan Aston pointed out yesterday, it’s been more of the same on the injury front for the horribly unlucky Utah Jazz. Just yesterday it was announced that Thabo Sefolosha is likely facing season-ending surgery, though he will get some additional opinions before making a final decision and we should know more in the coming days.
Here’s to hoping that Sefolosha isn’t facing as drastic of a recovery as we initially thought.
Thabo Sefolosha is still gathering opinions on his knee injury, and will meet with his agent tomorrow.
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) January 14, 2018
Setting the overall bad Sefolosha news to one side, though, the Utah Jazz did get a little bit of good news on the injury front regarding Rudy Gobert and Raul Neto. Gobert was able to participate in Sunday’s practice although he was limited to non-contact drills. He’s still listed as out for now and likely to miss another week or so, but he showed some promise in the following videos below from Deseret News’ Eric Woodyard and KSL’s Andy Larsen, especially in a sweet turnaround jumper at the end of the third clip.
Jazz center Rudy Gobert is participating in non-contact drills in practice. He is out for tomorrow but expected to return soon. pic.twitter.com/nhtdlGtO2h
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) January 14, 2018
More footage of Rudy Gobert getting in work with Tony Bradley. He looks good. pic.twitter.com/fkd1bdX9yS
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) January 14, 2018
Tony Bradley and Rudy Gobert going at it at the end of Jazz practice today. Look at Rudy with the turnaround J! pic.twitter.com/rIbHGbZc5F
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) January 14, 2018
The Jazz have certainly missed Rudy Gobert’s presence in the paint and will hope to have him back sooner than later. He looked to have some spring in his step in those short video tidbits above, so hopefully that’s a sign that he’ll be back active and effective in no time.
The Utah Jazz have also been without backup point guard Raul Neto for quite some time since he went down against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 9th. Originally it was thought that he was out with concussion-like symptoms, which was true, but it turns out his extended absence has also been the result of a bone bruise in his knee.
Raul Neto also participated in practice, but he's questionable for tomorrow
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) January 14, 2018
The good news is that Neto participated in practice today and is listed as questionable for tomorrow’s contest against the Indiana Pacers, which means even if he doesn’t end up actually suiting up, his return should be considered imminent. With Neto back on the floor, it’s not necessarily going to vault the Jazz into another echelon, but he’s been a solid, steadying presence and an overall net positive for the Jazz that at times has even outshined Ricky Rubio, so it will be good to have him back in action.
Along with impending news on the severity of Thabo Sefolosha’s injury, fans are anxious to know the status of Dante Exum who has missed the entirety of the 2017-18 season thus far. He was seen taking shots during pre-game of Utah’s latest contest against the Charlotte Hornets, so hopefully we’ll have a favorable update on his status soon as well.
Next: Utah Jazz 2017-18 Week 14 Outlook, Predictions
We’ll be sure to have that for you here at TheJNotes.com as soon as the news breaks. Until then, keep your fingers crossed that the bad injury news will finally subside and we’ll have nothing but smooth sailing from here on out!
Utah returns to action tomorrow at home at 7:00 PM MT as they face off against the Indiana Pacers.