Jazz's Lauri Markkanen: Out for FIBA Qualifying Tournament
Rotowire
Markkanen (shoulder) will not play for Finland during the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in July, Evan Sidery of Forbes Sports reports.
Markkanen is still rehabbing a right shoulder injury which forced him out of Utah's last nine games. The 27-year-old will not rush his recovery to play in the qualifier, as he is expected to return to on-court activities in August. Markkanen played in 55 games for the Jazz last season, averaging 23.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting 48.0 percent from the field.
Jazz's Walker Kessler: Expected to play in Summer League
Rotowire
The Jazz plan to have Kessler (nose) participate in the 2024 NBA Summer League, Tony Jones of The Athletic reports.
After a nice rookie season in 2022-23 in which Kessler started his final 34 appearances, he was selected in the early-to-mid rounds of most fantasy leagues this season. Managers who did so were disappointed. The center's points (8.1) and rebounds (7.5) per game decreased, as did his field-goal percentage (65.4). He also started just 22 games and crossed the 30-minute threshold only eight times. While the Jazz also had interest in developing other bigs like John Collins and Taylor Hendricks, plus giving minutes to Kelly Olynyk before trading him to Toronto, Kessler's role gave the impression that he wasn't impressing coach Will Hardy. The organization seems to believe it would be best for Kessler to get more development minutes this summer.
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Jazz's Omer Yurtseven: Productive in season finale Sunday
Rotowire
Yurtseven supplied 11 points (5-12 FG, 0-1 3Pt, 1-2 FT), 18 rebounds and two assists over 30 minutes during Sunday's 123-116 loss to the Warriors.
Yurtseven spent most of the season as the third-string center behind John Collins (back) and Walker Kessler (nose), but since both were ruled out for the season finale, Yurtseven stepped into a starting role and looked quite good, posting a double-double and making his presence felt on the glass. Yurtseven started Utah's final six games of the campaign, scoring in double digits four times and posting two double-doubles in that span.
