Season likely lost! The Jazz officially announce that Jaren Jackson Jr. will undergo surgery—does this mean they can tank with peace of mind?

On February 13th Beijing time, the Utah Jazz officially announced that Jaren Jackson Jr. will undergo surgery to remove a localized pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) growth inside his left knee. This growth was detected by MRI during a physical exam after the trade.

Insider Haynes stated that Jaren Jackson Jr. might miss the entire season due to this. Siegel reposted and commented, “Alright, this is definitely a less obvious but more reassuring way to tank.”

After consulting with several medical experts, Jaren Jackson Jr., his management team, and the Jazz collectively decided that the surgery will take place during the upcoming NBA All-Star Weekend. Jackson Jr., a two-time All-Star, first earned his All-Star selection at the 2023 All-Star Game held in Salt Lake City, and he is expected to make a full recovery.

Standing 2.11 meters tall and weighing 110 kilograms, Jaren Jackson Jr. is currently in his eighth NBA season. This year, he has played 48 games, all as a starter, averaging 19.4 points per game with a shooting percentage of 47.6%, along with 5.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.4 blocks per game.

Throughout his career, he has appeared in 455 games (starting 446), averaging 28.8 minutes on the court per game, contributing 18.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, and 1.5 assists per game.

At just 26 years old, Jaren Jackson Jr. was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year for the 2022-23 season, selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team in 2021-22 and 2022-23, the Second Team in 2024-25, and led the league in blocks twice during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

He was chosen by the Memphis Grizzlies as the 4th overall pick in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft and is the only player from that draft class to have scored over 8,000 points, grabbed more than 2,500 rebounds, and recorded upwards of 800 blocks in his career so far.