The Impact of Jazz Star Lauri Markkanen Missing Significant Time

The Utah Jazz were already short on healthy frontcourt members; now they have just lost their best player.

Utah stretch-four Lauri Markkanen will miss at least a month with a fracture in his right hand. He had already been playing through a sprained right wrist. During the game agaisnt Dallas on Friday, Nov. 6, he got hit in the hand. 

An initial X-ray showed nothing, but when the team got back to Utah after its game on Sunday against Minnesota, a fracture was revealed.

The ironic aspect of his injury is that Markkanen hit eight 3-pointers and finished with 24 points in Dallas, all with cracks in his hand.

He missed the next two games with what the team called a right wrist sprain. Even though he sat out with the same sprain earlier in the season, the team said there was no correlation.

Utah can't catch a break. Markkanen is another name on a list of frontcourt members with long-term injuries. Jaren Jackson Jr. injured his knee and is missing a big portion of the early-season schedule. He is two weeks into his 6-8 week timeline. Jusuf Nurkic still hasn't seen the court this season after injuring his toe during the preseason.

It's not just the frontcourt; leading scorer and point guard Keyonte George sprained his ankle in the game against Minnesota. His status for the future remains uncertain.

Markkanen was averaging 18 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2 assists over eight games this season. He was also shooting 39.7% from behind the arc.

With Markkanen now out, coach Will Hardy will have to try to replace 18 points per game. Rookie Darryne Peterson and Ace Bailey will have to lead the offense. Peterson has shown flashes, but fans are still waiting for the breakout game.

Wings Brice Sensabaugh, Josh Green, Josh Okogie and Svi Mykhailiuk are expected to log more minutes immediately.

The Jazz enter Wednesday's game at home against the Orlando Magic at 1-10. If the losses keep piling up, total focus on developing the younger core may come quicker than expected.

A month is the minimum for Markkanen. Utah has not released a specific date to the public. The next update will come when Markkanen is reevaluated. 

Utah is now scraping to suit up healthy bodies. A team that was predicted to make a push for the play-in is now sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference with their star player out for at least a month. 

All hands on deck for Utah.