Lauri Markkanen to Miss at Least One Month With Right Hand Fracture
Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen will be sidelined for at least one month after suffering two non-displaced fractures in his right hand, the Jazz announced Wednesday.
ESPN's Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon first reported the news on Wednesday.
Markkanen has already sat out two games since he last played Friday at the Dallas Mavericks.
The Jazz currently sit in the basement of the Western Conference after a 1-10 start to the 2026-27 campaign.
Markkanen had averaged 18 points, 6.8 rebounds and two assists through eight contests.
His injury issues started Oct. 26 when he left a matchup against the visiting Memphis Grizzlies early with a right wrist injury.
Markkanen sat out one contest, then returned to play a four-game stretch capped off by scoring 24 points in 34 minutes during Friday's game against the Mavericks.
Two days later, Markkanen was ruled out of Sunday's matchup at the Minnesota Timberwolves with what the team described as a right wrist sprain.
KSL's Chandler Holt reported Markkanen's latest injury believed to be is "unrelated" to the wrist issue other than taking place in the same arm.
Markkanen's extended absence comes as the latest blow to a Jazz roster already missing Nurkić, Jackson and Keyonte George to injury.
Nurkić suffered an injury to the second toe of his right foot during the preseason and is next set to be re-evaluated around Nov. 20, according to the Jazz.
Jaren Jackson Jr. suffered a torn MCL in his right knee on Oct. 26 and is facing an estimated six- to eight-week recovery timeline that would place his potential return around mid-December, per MacMahon and Charania.
George, the Jazz's leading scorer so far this season, missed his team's last game with what Utah described as a right ankle sprain.
Jazz governor Ryan Smith said in an appearance on KSL Sports' Scotty G. & The Coach last weekend he had faith in coach Will Hardy as well as CEO Danny Ainge and president of basketball operations Austin Ainge.
The Jazz will for now hope to get positive injury news about George so the third-year guard can join Darryn Peterson and Ace Bailey in leading their team for at least the next few weeks.