After pulling off a blockbuster trade for former Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr, the Utah Jazz promptly benched him in the fourth quarter in all three games he played for the team.
The Jazz engendered heavy criticism for this decision, but they will face a little less of it now in light of the news that Jackson is "likely" to miss the remainder of the regular season amid surgery to address a PVNS growth in his left knee.
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Jackson's Jazz career had started well. Even if that pesky development of "winning games" wasn't part of Utah's plan for the rest of the season, Jackson had averaged 22.3 points on 49 percent shooting in his three games -- of which the Jazz won two.
Utah is motivated to incur some losses before the end of the season due to the protections on their first-round pick in a loaded 2026 draft. The Jazz's first-round pick is protected 1-8; otherwise, it conveys to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the result of the Derrick Favors salary dump trade in 2021.
However, the Jazz has one of the easiest schedules in the NBA after the All-Star break. The average winning percentage of Utah's opponents in the final 27 games is just 49.2, which means they will have the eighth-lightest schedule remaining.
If the Jazz bank too many wins, they might lose an opportunity to add a blue-chip prospect to what looks like an exciting core. Ironically enough, Jackson's injury might "help" Utah keep their pick and continue to build their future -- without the controversy of benching him intentionally down the stretch.
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