According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Utah Jazz forward Jaren Jackson Jr. has suffered a torn MCL in his left knee. He will be sidelined for roughly 6-8 weeks. Utah has already been dealing with a ton of injuries at their big man position. Now, Jackson will be out for a while. The Jazz’s interior defense is slowly but surely deteriorating.
Obviously, Jackson’s health is the most important thing. The Jazz need him to get healthy before anything else. But looking at the on-court impact of the injury, the Jazz’s interior play will be left in the hands of Mo Bamba, Jaxson Hayes, and Tony Bradley for the foreseeable future. That’s a less-than-ideal situation.
Bamba played well against the Memphis Grizzlies, but promoting him to a starting-level center would be a big leap.
Jaren Jackson Jr. injury leaves Jazz center room in a rough spot
Jackson is an elite shot-blocker. His rebounding isn’t where it needs to be for a big man, but he can definitely play down low. That’s what the Jazz need right now, especially after losing Walker Kessler this summer.
Utah signed Jusuf Nurkic to a new contract this summer, but he’s been out indefinitely due to a foot injury. The Jazz have had to move forward without him, and now they have to move forward without Jackson.
As mentioned, Bamba looked good the other night. He put up some impressive numbers against the Grizzlies, nearly helping the Jazz complete a comeback win.
Bamba played 28:34 off the bench after Jackson left the game with an injury. He finished the night with 14 points, seven rebounds, one assist, and four blocks while shooting 7-of-8 from the floor.
It was an impressive night. And if nothing else, it should give the Jazz some optimism about the state of their depleted big-man room. But it’s still not an ideal situation.
Utah gave up a ton of assets in its trade for Jackson last year. He’s supposed to be a core building block of their team, and now, he’s going to miss a ton of action.
Add that to the loss of Kessler to the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason and Nurkic’s own long-term injury, and the Jazz are fighting a losing battle at the center position.
They need guys like Bamba, Bradley, and Hayes to step up. Those three have big shoes to fill if the Jazz want to put themselves in a position to compete for a playoff spot this year.
If they fail to help fill the void the Jackson and Nurkic injuries have left behind, Utah is going to be in a tough spot.
Add us as a preferred source on Google