Lauri Markkanen Out for a Month with Hand Fractures

Lauri Markkanen will miss at least a month after suffering two non-displaced fractures in his right hand, a brutal blow for a Utah Jazz team already spiraling at the bottom of the Western Conference.

The Jazz announced Wednesday that their All-Star forward, who had sat out the previous two games with what was initially listed as a right wrist sprain, sustained the fractures during last Friday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks. He will be re-evaluated in four weeks, but for a team sitting at 1-10 and riding a nine-game losing streak heading into Wednesday night’s matchup with the Orlando Magic, that timeline feels like an eternity.

Through eight games this season, the 29-year-old Finn has been one of the few steady pillars in a shaky start, averaging 18 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2 assists per game. His scoring punch, floor spacing and size form the backbone of Utah’s offense. Now that backbone is on the shelf.

The injuries keep stacking up in Salt Lake City. Markkanen joins a growing list of sidelined Jazz players that already includes Keyonte George (ankle), Jaren Jackson Jr. (knee) and Jusuf Nurkić (foot). What was supposed to be a developing core is instead a patchwork rotation.

For Markkanen, this is an all-too-familiar storyline. Injuries have shadowed his career from the beginning. He has reached the 60-game mark only three times and has not played more than 68 regular-season games since his rookie year in 2017-18. Including this season, he has appeared in only 97 games since the start of the 2024-25 campaign, a number that underlines just how often his momentum has been interrupted.

Utah, tied with the Sacramento Kings for last place in the West, can ill afford another major absence. A team already searching for rhythm must now navigate at least a month without its primary scorer and most reliable presence.

The season is barely out of the gate, and the Jazz are already fighting to keep it from slipping away.