Nurkić played twelve minutes in Utah’s first preseason game against the Denver Nuggets. He put up four points, shooting just 20% from the field. Still, he grabbed five rebounds and showed signs of good defense with a block and a steal. Nurkić is also incredibly important to this Utah team, which just lost starting center Walker Kessler. When Nurkić sat out the second preseason game, I think most people assumed it was just a rest day for a veteran, considering preseason is far more valuable to younger
players on the roster and Lauri Markkanen was also taking the day off.
Then the news broke from Chris Haynes that Nurkić will be sidelined for at least four weeks after suffering a partial plantar plate tear of the second toe on his right foot. I assume the injury happened in the game against Denver, but that hasn’t been specified by anyone at this point. It’s possible he injured it elsewhere, but the Denver game seems like the most likely outcome.
Shreyas Laddha of The Salt Lake Tribune reported on Monday that Nurkić would miss practice with the right foot injury. Utah honestly probably feels pretty good that it’ll only be about a month before Nurkić returns. With the season still about two weeks away, there’s reason to believe he shouldn’t miss more than 6–10 games to open the season. While the schedule to open the season is easier, starting with teams like Memphis twice and a New Orleans team you should feel confident beating, it also includes games against the Lakers and Trail Blazers that the Jazz should feel like they can come away with. Getting out to a fast start is still possible, but it will be more difficult than it would’ve been with Nurkić available to play.
Center was already a concern for Utah, and now, for the first few weeks of the season, the Jazz will heavily rely on guys like Jaxson Hayes, Kyle Filipowski, and now potentially Mo Bamba. One more ripple effect of this is that Jaren Jackson Jr. may now start at center, while Ace Bailey could also occupy a starting spot early on, which was not expected. In the first preseason game with Nurkić healthy, the Jazz started Keyonte George, Darryn Peterson, Lauri Markkanen, Jackson, and Nurkić. Many assumed that would’ve been the opening-day lineup. There are still two weeks for Will Hardy to fiddle around and decide who he wants starting in the season opener.
