Utah Jazz Could Shut Down Lauri Markkanen for Season

It looks like there's a chance the Utah Jazz could be without Lauri Markkanen for the remainder of the 2025-26 season.

Markkanen, the Jazz's star forward who's been in the midst of a career-best season when he's been on the floor this year, has been out since the end of February with a hip injury he sustained in one of Utah's team practices.

He's been out of the Jazz's lineup for close to a month, and at this point, there haven’t been many new developments regarding Markkanen's availability moving forward through the time he's been sidelined.

However, now, according to a fresh update from Deseret News' Sarah Todd, we now know that Markkanen is again set to be re-evaluated in two weeks from that same injury.

The issue is, that time could just mean he's hit the end of the road for his 2025-26 season.

"Jazz's Lauri Markkanen wasn't on the most recent road trip (neither was Keyonte George). Markkanen has been out since 2/26. The latest is that he will again be re-evaluated in two weeks. That technically puts us ahead of the end of the season...but we'll see."

Jazz's Lauri Markkanen wasn't on the most recent road trip (neither was Keyonte George). Markkanen has been out since 2/26. The latest is that he will again be re-evaluated in two weeks. That technically puts us ahead of the end of the season...but we'll see.
— Sarah Todd (@NBASarah) March 20, 2026

Lauri Markkanen at Risk of Missing Rest of Season

With a two-week re-evaluation period, that will at least take Markkanen out for the next seven games of the regular season: a three-game homestand against the Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors, and Washington Wizards, a road trip to face the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns, then back home to play the Cleveland Cavaliers, then the Nuggets again.

That would then leave five games left for Markkanen to potentially play. But when factoring in just how careful the Jazz have been regarding their star forward's availability this season, paired with a re-conditioning window that would likely take place upon his return to the rotation, it's probably more likely than not that we won't be seeing him on the floor fo Utah until the start of next season.

Markkanen has been one of many key starting pieces out of the mix for Utah for the past several weeks, including a recent hamstring injury to Keyonte George, along with the season-ending surgery for both Jaren Jackson Jr. (knee) that took place last month and even Walker Kessler (shoulder) that occurred at the start of the season.

But in the time Markkanen's been healthy and on the floor for Utah, it's been paired with some of the best numbers of his NBA career. He's played in 42 games to average 26.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 47.7% shooting from the field.

Feb 11, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz forward/center Lauri Markkanen (23) drives into the basket around Sacramento Kings center Maxime Raynaud (42) during the second half at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Peter Creveling-Imagn Images | Peter Creveling-Imagn Images

Markkanen ranks second on the Jazz in total points for the year behind only Keyonte George, but would also appear in the least amount of games in a single regular season than he's seen throughout a nearly 10-year career, if he has actually played in his last game until October.

Even if it is indeed the end of his season, it'll be a campaign that both Markkanen and Jazz fans can consider a successful one, showing that when he's available, he's can be a key component of what makes this Utah roster successful when they're putting wins on the board.

Once next season rolls around and this roster can finally compete on a nightly basis for a hopeful playoff spot, we'll then be able to get more games out of Markkanen, and closer to an 82-game sample size that truly cements his status as one of the best scorers at his size in the NBA.

But for now, his time on the floor is put on pause until further notice, while the Jazz will continue to double down on their young players (and more importantly, this year's draft lottery), while Markkanen continues to work back to 100%.