Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell’s playoff return remains uncertain as the team recently announced he will continue getting treatment for his injury.
Following their loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday night, the Utah Jazz will have to deal with another blow: the continued absence of star Donovan Mitchell. The Jazz announced that Mitchell will not travel with the team in Utah’s upcoming road trip and will remain in Salt Lake City for rehab.
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Utah Jazz fans should be very worried.
The 24-year-old All-Star guard will obviously be pivotal for Utah’s postseason run, but given the current timetable, there’s no telling when Mitchell will be back on the court. Utah have stated that Mitchell will be out for the final three season games, but he might not recover in time for the start of the playoffs, either. If that’s the case, Jazz will have some re-strategizing to do.
Donovan Mitchell will sit out of Jazz’s final three games in the season
Mitchell has been averaging 26.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game this season, and his career-high 32.7 usage percentage reveals how much the Jazz rely on him. He’s a cold-blooded three-point shooter from anywhere on the court, which would have rivaled Steph Curry’s shooting night on Monday.
The Jazz have held onto the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference without Mitchell thanks to the offensive help of Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson, but Utah’s loss to the Warriors doesn’t bode well for the serious playoff contenders. Utah’s final three opponents are Portland, Oklahoma, and Sacramento, so it makes sense that the Jazz aren’t rushing for Mitchell to be back.
Still, once Utah enters the win-or-die stages of the postseason, they’ll hope to have a healthy Mitchell to carry them at least part of the way.