Jazz Update Kelly Olynyk's Status for Trail Blazers Matchup
On Wednesday, the Utah Jazz will hit the road to face the Portland Trail Blazers as both teams battle for positioning in a congested Western Conference. The Trail Blazers head into the contest at full strength, but the Jazz will be missing a key contributor.
Kelly Olynyk will miss his eighth straight game due to an ankle injury that occurred on January 8. However, Utah’s starting center is practicing again and is trending to return back to game action sometime this week.
The Jazz and Trail Blazers are at a crossroads in terms of what direction to take moving forward. Only three games separate securing a playoff spot at the fifth seed or getting a free roll at Victor Wembanyama or Scoot Henderson in the 2023 NBA Lottery.
Heading into the season, the Trail Blazers were a projected playoff team with a healthy Damian Lillard paired with fringe All-Stars in Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simmons. Although losing seven of their last 10 games has put them in the conversation of possibly being sellers at the deadline.
On the other hand, it was a foregone conclusion the Jazz would tank the 2022-23 season, but the emergence of Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler has put the Jazz between a rock and a hard place.
Do the Jazz ride the ship, knowing that getting a top-10 pick in a loaded 2023 draft class most likely wouldn’t be in the cards? Or do they take their foot off the gas by trading some veterans to improve their draft position?
Malik Beasley, Mike Conley, and Jarred Vanderbilt are the names that have been mentioned in the trade rumors, but at this stage, nothing is imminent, with the season being in limbo.
The outcome of the next six games leading up to the trade deadline could go a long way in which path these teams end up taking.
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