Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward sustained a dislocated finger on his non-shooting hand and could miss between four to six weeks of the upcoming NBA season. Here are the main takeaways from his injury.
The Utah Jazz finished the 2015-16 campaign with a 40-42 record. But despite injuries to several players (more on that in a bit), the Jazz were in the playoff race right up until the final week of the season.
One of the reasons why Utah just missed the postseason was because of Gordon Hayward, who led the team in scoring with 19.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest. However, it appears that the Jazz are now faced with an early-season setback, as Hayward recently sustained an injury on his non-shooting hand.
Bad news. Gordon Hayward suffered a dislocated and broken finger on his left hand. He's expected to miss six weeks, according to sources.
— Jody Genessy (@DJJazzyJody) October 7, 2016
As of right now, the timetable for his return is anywhere from four to six weeks. With their youthful core expected to take the next step, along with offseason additions (George Hill, Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw), sports outlets such as ESPN predicted that the Jazz would emerge as a playoff team.
However, that prediction may not come to fruition depending upon how long Hayward will be out of the lineup, and/or how well the team responds during his absence.
That being said, here are the main takeaways from Hayward’s recent injury.