Nurkic's Toe Tear Opens the Jazz Center Job — Who Cashes In?
A partial plantar plate tear shelves Utah's new $22M center for at least four weeks, cracking open minutes for Hayes, Filipowski and JJJ.
Cheap source of minutes at the five with Nurkic out weeks.
- Partial plantar plate tear, right 2nd toe (Oct. 4)
- Reevaluated in 4 weeks — misses season's first weeks
- Nurkic: 10.9 pts, 10.4 reb in 41 games (2025-26)
- Signed 2-yr, $22M deal this summer to start
- Filipowski: +12.7 FPTS/G in last 5 games (2025-26)
Utah's plan to hand Jusuf Nurkic the starting center job is on ice before the season even tips. The Jazz announced Nurkic sustained a partial plantar plate tear of the second toe on his right foot in the preseason opener against Denver on Oct. 4, and he'll be reevaluated in four weeks — meaning he's missing at least the opening chunk of the schedule. He logged just 11 minutes in that game before exiting.
That's a real dent in Utah's frontcourt math. Nurkic played 41 games last season (2025-26), averaging 10.9 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists for 33.5 fantasy points per game, good for our #66 overall rank (#11 at the position). He signed a two-year, $22 million deal this summer specifically to anchor the middle for a team that says it wants to climb back into the playoff picture.
Who Soaks Up the Minutes
Jaxson Hayes started the second half against Denver and projects to slide into the opening-night lineup. The problem for fantasy purposes: Hayes is a classic low-usage rim-runner. He posted just 16.9 fantasy points per game across 66 games last season (2025-26) and sits at #267 overall in our rankings. He's been hot recently — up 8.2 fantasy points over his average across his last five — but that's a thin foundation to bet on.
The more interesting name is Kyle Filipowski, who should steal real run at the five. He put up 11.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists over 77 games last season (2025-26) for 26.5 fantasy points per game, and his last five showed a +12.7 surge against his season average. At #128 overall (#41 at position), he's the kind of cheap, available body who can outkick his draft slot when the minutes open up.
Jaren Jackson Jr. is the other domino, but with a catch. The Jazz prefer him at the four, so even though he'll likely absorb more center reps, Utah isn't eager to park him there full-time. JJJ is the real star of this group — 19.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 34.5 fantasy points per game across 48 games last season (2025-26), ranked #55 overall and trending up (+6 over his average the last five). His value doesn't hinge on Nurkic's toe.
The move: stash or add Filipowski now, especially in deeper leagues, since he's the cleanest beneficiary. Hayes is a speculative streamer at best given his anemic usage. Keep rolling JJJ as the Jazz's centerpiece regardless. As for Nurkic managers — hold if you have the bench space and a four-week reevaluation window you can wait out, but don't burn a roster spot you need in shallow formats.
