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SALT LAKE CITY — Gordon Hayward will miss approximately six weeks with a dislocated and broken finger on his left hand, according to the Deseret News' Jody Genessy. According to the report, Hayward is slated to miss about six weeks with the injury.
The injury was first reported by ESPN's Chris Haynes, and came as a surprise: no mention of Hayward hurting himself was made by coaches, players, or PR staff in the media session after Friday's practice.
Ironically, Snyder referenced Hayward only to speak of Hayward's improvement, saying "Gordon's making an adjustment to a more dominant player. He's been really, really, good and comfortable." It's possible not even the head coach knew the extent of Hayward's injury at the time.
Hayward had averaged 16 points per game in just 20 minutes per game of playing time in the first two preseason games, efficiently scoring against the Jazz's opponents in limited minutes. But a six week absence means that the Jazz will be without their biggest scoring threat during a rough stretch to begin the regular season.
Should that timeframe hold, Hayward's return would be around November 19, meaning 13 missed regular season games for the Jazz's star. Eight of those 13 games are on the road, and seven are against last season's playoff teams.
The Jazz are more prepared for this injury than they would have been in previous seasons. The signing of Joe Johnson means that he'll likely move into the starting lineup alongside Rodney Hood while Hayward sits. Alec Burks, though, is still not participating in contact drills after undergoing surgery on his left knee in June, and no timetable has been set for his return.
That means a lot of Joe Ingles off the bench, along with more two-point guard lineups. The Jazz have been doing a lot of those in the preseason, playing Dante Exum, George Hill, and Shelvin Mack next to each other.
Late Friday afternoon, the Jazz issued a release on Hayward's injury.
After sustaining an apparent injury to his left hand during today’s practice at Zions Bank Basketball Center, Hayward underwent further examination this afternoon at University of Utah Health Care’s Orthopaedic Center. Following the examination, Jazz physicians Dr. Travis Maak and Dr. Douglas Hutchinson determined that Hayward suffered a fracture of the fourth finger on his left hand. Hayward will undergo additional evaluation by the Jazz medical staff and further updates will be provided when appropriate.
Dennis Lindsey spoke on team-owned radio station 1280 AM about the injury. "We won't associate a timeline for a while because there's a couple different potential outcomes," Lindsey said. "The last few pieces of info I've received from our training staff have been optimistic."
We'll update this article as more news becomes available.
