Utah Jazz: Championship aspirations take major hit sans Bogdanovic

The Utah Jazz took another blow on Monday morning, learning that Bojan Bogdanovic would miss the remainder of the 2019-20 season due to a wrist injury.

It’s been a rough year thus far for Utah Jazz fans. From chemistry/inconsistency issues on the court to the whole Rudy Gobert/Donovan Mitchell novel coronavirus fiasco, fans have watched their team take a punch to the mouth from just about all angles.

The last 24 hours haven’t been too kind to them, either…

During last night’s finale of The Last Dance, any Utah Jazz fans who tuned in had to re-live the heartbreak of losing in the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals to the greatest basketball player of all time.

Some 14 hours later, an unexpected bombshell hit as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that Bojan Bogdanovic would miss the remainder of the 2019-20 season (if It resumes) and undergo surgery on his nagging wrist injury.

The team announced that the injury was a ruptured scapholunate ligament. He suffered the injury during the early stages of the season.

Even though the Utah Jazz did display inconsistency and frustration during the season, they did have a 41-23 record prior to the hiatus. Nobody can deny the talent they have on that roster. It’s a team that had hopes for a championship and has the potential to make a deep playoff run.

Losing Bogdanovic hurts those championship hopes, and in a big way. We’re talking about a guy that gets you 20.2 points per game and has saved the Jazz in clutch moments throughout the season.

Bogdanovic has arguably been Utah’s second or third best player during the 2019-20 season. He doesn’t get the love that Gobert and Mitchell get, but he had a fantastic season and did so on a bad wrist. The guy is a flat-out baller.

He put off surgery for as long as he could, but at this point, he wouldn’t be able to play if the 2019-20 season does kick back up again. Getting him fully healthy for the 2020-21 season was, rightfully so, the top priority.

If the Utah Jazz play basketball again this season, they’ll have to find offense elsewhere. They’ll miss Bogdanovic’s shooting, ball handling, and creating ability. It’s hard to imagine them making a deep run without Bogey.

Bojan Bogdanovic’s first season in Utah was one to remember. He’s probably Utah’s greatest free-agent signing, and I can’t wait to see him back in action next season. I’m wishing Bogey a speedy recovery during these hard times.