Jazz's Alec Burks to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery
The Utah Jazz's worst fears have come true.
Shooting guard Alec Burks will have season-ending surgery on his left shoulder, the Jazz announced Tuesday. Burks has been plagued by a shoulder issue for a considerable amount of time and was reportedly hoping to put off surgery until the offseason.
Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey released a statement Tuesday:
Alec's long-term health has been our top priority throughout this process, and although it is unfortunate that we will be without his services on the court the rest of this season, we commend Alec's commitment and continued effort to play through considerable pain to this point. After continued consultation with our medical staff, Alec and his representation, we have unanimously agreed that it would be most prudent for Alec to have this procedure performed now in order to ensure that he will be healthy and ready for the start of next season.
Burks will have the surgery performed Wednesday at the University of Utah by the team's head orthopaedic physician.
The 23-year-old landed hard on his shoulder in early December after getting hit by Denver Nuggets' guard Arron Afflalo, and subsequently missed the Jazz's next two games. But Jody Genessy of the Deseret News reports that Afflalo's flagrant foul is not what aggravated Burks' shoulder discomfort and that the fourth-year guard has been bothered by this injury since college.
Burks' season ends after 27 games and averages of 13.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and three assists per contest.
It was an underwhelming campaign for Burks after he inked a four-year, $42-million contract extension which kicks in next season. The University of Colorado product did, however, shoot career highs of 38.2 percent from long range and 82.2 percent from the line, but saw his field goal percentage drop considerably to 40.3 percent.
The Jazz expect the 2011 first-round pick to be ready for the start of the team's 2015 training camp.
Rookie Rodney Hood has started the last two games in place of Burks, and figures to get an extended look with him now sidelined for the season.