Jaren Jackson Jr. Out Six to Eight Weeks With Torn MCL in Right Knee

The Utah Jazz will be without Jaren Jackson Jr. for six to eight weeks after the forward was diagnosed with a torn MCL in his right knee, the team announced on Tuesday. ESPN reporters Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon reported that Jackson will not need surgery. The Jazz said he will be reevaluated in six weeks, and NBC Sports reported that a return around or after Christmas is the expected range if his recovery runs closer to eight weeks.

How the injury happened

Jackson was hurt early in the second quarter of Utah's 110-105 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at Delta Center on Monday night. Grizzlies guard Ty Jerome drove to the basket, was fouled by Svi Mykhailiuk, and fell into Jackson's right knee. Jackson stayed in the game for one more possession, then left and did not return. He finished with six points, three rebounds and two assists in 10 minutes against the team that traded him to Utah last season.

The matchup carried extra weight for Jackson. Memphis drafted him, he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in 2023 while with the Grizzlies, and Utah acquired him at last season's trade deadline. He played only three games for the Jazz last season before season ending knee surgery shut him down. This fall he had started to settle in. In his three full games he averaged 19.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks, and the two time All-Star gave Utah the defensive anchor the front office had planned around.

A frontcourt already stretched thin

The timing is hard for a Jazz team that opened the season 1-3 and believed it could push for a playoff place. Lauri Markkanen also left Monday's game early. The team said Markkanen has a sprained right wrist and is day to day. Starting center Jusuf Nurkic has not played this season because of a partial plantar plate tear in the second toe of his right foot, and NBC Sports reported he is out at least another week. Without Jackson and Nurkic, Utah loses the back line of its defense, which ranked 23rd in the league in the early going.

Jaxson Hayes, Kyle Filipowski and Mo Bamba are among the options to take Jackson's minutes at center and power forward. Bamba scored 14 points with seven rebounds and four blocks against Memphis. More shots should also fall to No. 2 draft pick Darryn Peterson and to Ace Bailey while Jackson is out.

Utah hosts the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, the first game of a long stretch the Jazz expected to play at full strength. Instead, their season now turns on how well a thin frontcourt holds up until late December, and on whether Jackson's reevaluation in six weeks keeps the eight week return within reach.