Justin Zanik is going to be out of action for about the next month. The Utah Jazz General Manager has to take a leave of absence starting Tuesday, April 2, 2024. He's going to need a kidney replacement due to polycystic kidney disease. His surgery was set for Tuesday and was expected to be just 2 and a half hours, and he'd be out of action anywhere from three to six weeks.
Just ahead of the Jazz's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers and former Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, Jazz head coach Will Hardy spoke to the media briefly and revealed that Zanik had a successful surgery. Now Zanik will likely head home in a few days and begin his recovery.
While we and many other Jazz fans haven't been too happy with the direction of the franchise, that seems like a small hill of beans when looking at the huge situation that Zanik has been dealing with for months, if not longer. It sort of puts everything into a new perspective a bit. This is just a sport after all.
Zanik isn't taking a step back, or leaving the team despite his situation. He fully intends to be part of the team as soon as he's medically cleared to return. Likely team head Danny Ainge will handle most of the heavy lifting until Zanik is given the go-ahead to return to work. When he does, the NBA Draft will be a few weeks away and the team will need to have a good idea what to do.
The NBA Draft Lottery, the night where the Jazz find out if they get to keep their 2024 first-round draft pick, is set for May 12, 2024, right about when Zanik should be back to work assuming he's following the latest timetable.
Then after that, you're about six weeks away from the NBA Draft, so hopefully the Jazz have some guys in place to help out while Zanik convulses.
We're hoping Zanik recovers fully and is back to work as soon as he's capable of doing so.