Utah needs Markkanen and Jackson healthy, Peterson ready

The Utah Jazz open at Memphis on Wednesday, October 21, at 8:00 PM ET after a 22-60 season, needing Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. healthy and Darryn Peterson projected to start at guard.

Utah finished 15th in the West with a net rating of -8, missed the playoffs and went 6-24 over its last 30 games. Peterson, the No. 2 pick out of Kansas, would be a rookie in the starting five from opening night.

Injuries explain part of it. Markkanen missed 40 games, Keyonte George 28 and Isaiah Collier 22. Yet with Airious Bailey, Kyle Filipowski and George all playing, the three the team counts on most this season, Utah went 13-33 in 46 games.

Jackson played 48 of 82 games last season. In 2024-25, his last full season, he played 74 and averaged 22.2 points with an impact rating of 3.76.

Our outlook does not count him at that level. It gives him 22.9 minutes a game and an impact of 1.77, the usual discount for a player back from a long absence, so a full return to his 2024-25 form would be more than the projection holds.

Markkanen played 42 games and still averaged 26.7 points and 6.9 rebounds in 34.4 minutes. His impact rating of 3.28 was the highest of any core player on the team, so every game he misses costs Utah its best two-way production.

George averaged 23.6 points and 6.1 assists in 54 games. Around him, minutes went to players who graded below average: Bailey at -3.35 in 27.5 minutes a game, Collier at -3.16 in 25.8. Those are the minutes the arrivals can take.

Jaxson Hayes comes from the Los Angeles Lakers after averaging 18.3 minutes and 7.5 points, with an impact of 1.23. Josh Okogie arrives from the Houston Rockets at 1.63 over 78 games, and Josh Green from the Charlotte Hornets at 1.41. Tony Bradley, who split last season between the Indiana Pacers and the Atlanta Hawks, graded -2.04.

Walker Kessler left for the Lakers after five games with Utah last season, at 31 minutes a game. John Konchar (26 games, impact 0.6) and Kevin Love (37 games, 0.32) also left. Returning players account for 65% of last season's minutes.

Jusuf Nurkic is out and expected back Wednesday, November 4, though the report says his absence could run past the initial four-week window. Filipowski, Blake Hinson and Trey Alexander are day-to-day; the report says sciatica limited Filipowski's explosiveness last season.

Our outlook ranks the Jazz roster 22nd of 30 and projects 34 wins and a net rating of -3. That view counts Jackson at a discount; a healthy Markkanen and a full Jackson would push past it.