The Utah Jazz will have to keep waiting on Jusuf Nurkic.
On Friday morning, the team said its starting center will be re-evaluated in two weeks as he continues to work back from the toe injury he suffered in the preseason opener against Denver on Oct. 4. The update offered a little more clarity, but not the kind Jazz fans were hoping for.
“Nurkić was re-evaluated by the Utah Jazz medical staff for a second toe injury of his right foot he sustained in the preseason game against Denver on Oct. 4. He is making progress and beginning to participate in on-court activities and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.”
That timeline pushes Nurkic’s absence to at least six weeks, and it could stretch to more than 15 regular-season games. His earliest realistic return now appears to be near the end of November.
For Utah, that leaves a real gap in the middle. Nurkic’s absence hits the Jazz’s size, center depth, rebounding, and offensive ceiling all at once. And it comes at a time when the frontcourt is already thin, with Jaren Jackson Jr. also out of the rotation for the next couple of weeks at minimum.
Nurkic’s production last season is part of why this matters. He appeared in 41 games for Utah, averaging a little over 26 minutes per night and posting 10.9 points on 50.3% shooting, along with 10.4 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.3 steals. He was a welcome surprise in the rotation, enough for the Jazz to reward him with a new two-year, $22 million deal just before free agency.
Now the team has to wait for that investment to pay off.
In the meantime, Jaxson Hayes should continue as Utah’s primary starter at center, with Tony Bradley, Mo Bamba, Kyle Filipowski, and even some Lauri Markkanen helping cover the minutes Nurkic would normally take.
At minimum, the Jazz have nine more games without him, including four at home and five on the road. Three of those are NBA Cup games.
Utah is 1-7 to start the season, and the next stretch will say plenty about how quickly the team can stabilize without its starting big man.
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