Utah Jazz injury report: Meaning behind Hood and Johnson’s status?

Joe Johnson will miss tonight’s game against the San Antonio Spurs while Rodney Hood is likely to play. Could this have something to do with potential moves that the Utah Jazz are cooking up?

If it was the middle of December, the Utah Jazz’s injury report for tonight would be just another ho-hum announcement. It lists the oft-injured Rodney Hood as probable after missing six games with a leg contusion and Joe Johnson is out for rest. These are both pretty normal and understandable circumstances – Hood is seemingly always hurt so his placement on the injury report is pretty common and Joe Johnson is old, so resting him makes perfect sense as well.

But this isn’t December. It’s trade season. So any sort of news regarding to injuries, players sitting out or playing, etc. can’t exist without speculation and guesswork.

Some have surmised that the fact that Joe Johnson is sitting out could be a sign that the Jazz are nearing a deal to trade him. It was previously reported that he had expressed a desire to move on from Utah, a perfectly understandable request considering the state of his career and of the current Jazz team, so the organization could very well be looking to move him.

However, many had supposed that Johnson would be hard to deal since the general consensus is that the Jazz will buy him out if he can’t be traded and thus he could be had without giving up assets. If instead the Jazz have found a trade partner for him, it would be a big win for them.

Of course, the fact that he’s resting could mean little more than that since tonight’s game is the second night of a back-to-back in the midst of a busy schedule, the Jazz want to preserve the 36-year old who’s been playing heavy minutes off the bench. But still, with trade rumors swirling, his sudden status that has him missing an important game against the San Antonio Spurs seems suspect.

Then there’s the situation of Rodney Hood. The fact that he missed the last six games with a seemingly less than serious injury had many wondering if he was really all that hurt or if the Jazz were simply holding him out to prepare him for a potential deal. I don’t quite believe the latter was exactly true. Hood’s injury likely was worthy of sitting out, even if he and the Jazz were being extra cautious.

And the fact that he is probable to suit up tonight is likely proof of that. However, Hood’s minutes should be monitored closely. If he’s not on the floor for very long, it may mean that his presence in tonight’s game is little more than a showcase that he indeed has his legs underneath him. Interestingly enough, the Jazz have played significantly better of late while Hood has been sidelined, which seems to serve as further proof that Utah could benefit from dealing him rather than holding on to him.

It’s already been made known that they’re actively shopping him, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to suppose that the Jazz have something in the works for him.

Or, as was the case with Iso Joe, we could very well be looking far too deep into this. Perhaps Rodney was held out for simply being hurt and now is simply playing because he’s healthy. All the trade speculation could very well be just that – speculation. It’s entirely possible that there’s no conspiracy at all behind the injury status of Hood and Johnson for tonight’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.

We may never know for sure the exact thought process behind how these two players have been managed of late. But if either or both are gone at this year’s deadline, then it’ll probably be pretty safe to assume that something was in the works.

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Fortunately, in a few days’ time we’ll no longer have to guess or speculate. With the trade deadline approaching on February 8th, all transactions will soon be absolutely finalized.

And by that point, the Jazz could potentially look quite different from how they look tonight.