The Utah Jazz Just Lost Their Entire Frontcourt to the Injury Gods

The Utah Jazz just lost their frontcourt in a single night, which is impressive efficiency if you are trying to tank, but an absolute nightmare for anyone who actually has to watch this team play basketball.

According to Marc Stein, Jaren Jackson Jr. tore his right MCL on Monday against his old team, the Memphis Grizzlies, and is out for at least six weeks. To make matters worse, Lauri Markkanen is now day-to-day with a right wrist sprain.

"Marc Stein reported the injury details, noting Jackson's six-week minimum absence and Markkanen's day-to-day status."

Jackson was just getting settled in his new Utah threads, averaging 16.3 points and 1.3 blocks through his first four games. The Jazz are already sitting at a bleak 1-3 after dropping that 110-105 game to Memphis, and now they have to figure out how to protect the rim without one of the league's premier shot-blockers.

Losing your defensive anchor to a multi-month knee injury while your best scorer tweaks his shooting wrist is the kind of bad luck that usually requires an ancient curse. If you hold a ticket for Utah's win total this season, you might want to start looking into the refund policy on acts of basketball tragedy.

Without Jackson patrolling the paint, Utah's defense is going to look like a layup line. Markkanen's wrist issue might just be day-to-day, but shooting hands are notoriously finicky, and rushing him back to carry a depleted roster sounds like a recipe for a lost season before Halloween even hits.

The Jazz host the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, which means Victor Wembanyama gets to face a Utah frontcourt that is currently being held together by athletic tape and wishful thinking. Expect the betting lines to swing wildly against Utah until Markkanen proves he can actually shoot a basketball again.