The Jazz are giving NBA fans plenty of reason to tank — sorry, we meant think — that perhaps there are ulterior motives for why they shut down the superstar they just acquired.
Jaren Jackson Jr., who played 48 games with the Grizzlies before being traded to Utah earlier this month, has been shut down for the rest of the season due to upcoming surgery to remove a pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) growth in his left knee, the team announced Thursday.
He is expected to make a fully recovery and be cleared far in advance of training camp, per ESPN.
As you can imagine, this caused many folks to roll their eyes since the Jazz have little reason to be competitive for the remainder of the season.
They have a top-eight protected pick for what is considered a deep 2026 NBA Draft, and they own the sixth-worst record entering Thursday.
Utah has also raised eyebrows since it played Jackson and fellow star Lauri Markkanen in two recent games, but the two then did not play in the fourth quarters of either game.
The Jazz still split the two games, and coach Will Hardy said he had no plans to reinsert them.
Utah is not the only team to be tanking, with the Pacers, Wizards and Kings’ tactics causing some frustration, but Utah isn’t doing much to be beat the allegations.
Jackson played in three games with the team before being shut down, and the Jazz said they discovered the growth during a post-trade MRI exam.
PVNS is a “condition that causes the synovium — the thin layer of tissue that lines the joints and tendons—to thicken and overgrow,” according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and does usually require surgery.
He averaged 24.0 minutes — down from the 30.7 he averaged with the Grizzlies — along with 22.3 points and 4.3 rebounds while guiding the Jazz to a 2-1 record in his two appearances.
Jackson tallied 23 points in 22 minutes in Wednesday’s 121-93 win over the Kings.
“You just have to make an impact when you’re in the game,” Jackson said, according to ESPN. “That’s what you have to focus on. If you focus on when you’re not out there, you’re gonna struggle as a player.”