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Thabo Sefolosha opts for surgery, Utah Jazz pursue injury hardship exception

By Jared Woodcox

MIAMI, FL - JANUARY 7: Thabo Sefolosha #22 of the Utah Jazz makes his entrance before the game against the Miami Heat on January 7, 2017 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Oscar Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - JANUARY 7: Thabo Sefolosha #22 of the Utah Jazz makes his entrance before the game against the Miami Heat on January 7, 2017 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Oscar Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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With Thabo Sefolosha officially out for the season, the Utah Jazz will seek permission from the league to call in reinforcements with an injury hardship waiver.

If you had to choose one word to describe the poor fortune of the Utah Jazz over the past three seasons, the word you’d most likely go with is quite simple: Injuries. Between Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors, Alec Burks, Dante Exum, Rodney Hood, former teammate George Hill and several other minor injuries in between, the Jazz have absolutely been a banged-up group.

And as it turns out, the injury bug isn’t exclusive to long-time Jazzmen as the latest victim was a player that was just added to Utah’s ranks this summer – Thabo Sefolosha. It was announced last week that Sefolosha had suffered an MCL injury and would likely undergo season-ending surgery to repair it. There was a brief ray of hope that as he pursued second opinions, he may not actually end up needing the surgery, but such didn’t end up being the case.

It was confirmed yesterday that Sefolosha is indeed out for the season. That’s a real shame considering how well he had been playing and how impactful of a piece he had become for the Jazz.

In response to this recent set of bad news, the Utah Jazz have reportedly filed for an injury hardship waiver. Essentially this would allow them to exceed the 15-man roster and take advantage of additional money to sign another player in wake of their onslaught of injuries. Per the tweet below from The Salt Lake Tribune’s Tony Jones, the Jazz should get an answer from the league in a few days.

Considering how frequently the Jazz have had to deal with devastating injuries, I would hope that the league finds them worthy of the hardship exception. With the Jazz now without Rudy Gobert, Dante Exum and Thabo Sefolosha, it would certainly be helpful for them to call in some backup.

They wouldn’t necessarily be able to bring in any sort of major difference-maker with the hardship waiver, but given Dennis Lindsey and the Jazz front office’s track record for finding diamonds in the rough (such as current rotation player Royce O’Neale), it’s quite possible that they’ll be able to bring in a nice addition to their current roster.

Next: Utah Jazz at Sacramento Kings key matchup: Rookie rivalry

As soon as news breaks on the league’s response to the request and what player the Jazz potentially bring into the fold to reinforce the team after all their injuries, we here at TheJNotes.com will be sure to get it to you.

Until then, cross your fingers that the Jazz can finally, FINALLY get healthy sooner rather than later.

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