Utah Jazz: 7 players out for preseason game at Mavericks

The Utah Jazz will be significantly shorthanded in the next preseason bout.

In general, fans aren’t having much luck this year when it comes to catching a meaningful glimpse of the 2021-22 Utah Jazz squad via preseason action.

First, despite this being 2021, there was no widely available stream of the opener, a 111-85 road loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.

Now, despite NBA TV televising Wednesday’s 6:30 p.m. MT game at the Dallas Mavericks, Jazz enthusiasts still won’t have a chance to watch the bulk of Utah’s projected rotation pieces. No, per a tweet from the franchise on Wednesday afternoon, the following seven Jazz players won’t be on the floor:

• Rudy Gobert (rest)
• Joe Ingles (rest)
• Mike Conley (rest)
• Donovan Mitchell (rest)
• Hassan Whiteside (left heel soreness)
• Bojan Bogdanovic (right shoulder soreness)
• Rudy Gay (offseason heel surgery)

That list consists of the five guys on the Utah roster over the age of 30 plus the pair of two-time All-Stars in Mitchell and Gobert. Altogether, those seven names include four full-time starters from last season and essentially account for 70 percent of the current team’s top 10 weapons.

So which Utah Jazz players are left?

The following 12 men appear to be available for playing time against the Mavericks:

• Royce O’Neale (returning starter)
• Jordan Clarkson (reigning Sixth Man of the Year)
• Miye Oni
• Elijah Hughes
• Udoka Azubuike
• Trent Forrest
• Jared Butler
• Eric Paschall
• MaCio Teague
• Marques Bolden
• Derrick Alston
• Malik Fitts

Good luck to any Utah Jazz fan in predicting the starting five from that cast of players. Regardless, it’s a safe bet there will be a relatively even distribution of minutes among the active dozen.

Also worth keeping an eye on is the possible battle between Teague, Bolden, Alston, and Fitts for the Jazz’s second two-way spot.