Kyle Filipowski Still Recovering From Offseason Back Surgery

“I’m back to normal and better than where I was last year,” Filipowski said at media day (story via Eric Spyropoulos of the team’s website). “The time to do the surgery was after the season, and I’ve been working hard all summer to get back and better.”

However, the 2024 second-round pick has been sidelined for both of the Jazz’s preseason games this fall due to the lower back injury, and head coach Will Hardy suggested Saturday that Filipowski still isn’t doing on-court work, per Shreyas Laddha of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter video link).

“He’s progressing well,” Hardy said of Filipowski. “(We’re) hopeful that he’s back with us soon. I know ‘soon’ is an arbitrary word, but he’s going through all the necessary steps to get back on the court.

“I know he’s very antsy to get back. It’s been a long summer of rehab, and the hope is that he’ll be back out there soon.”

Filipowski, who was selected 32nd overall a couple years ago after two college seasons at Duke, appeared in 77 games last season for Utah, including making 41 starts. The 6’11” center/forward averaged 11.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.6 rebounds and 0.9 steals in 23.4 minutes per game, with a shooting slash line of .492/.325/.750.

Although the Jazz project to have a relatively crowded frontcourt when they’re at full strength, that isn’t the case at the moment. In addition to Filipowski being sidelined, starting center Jusuf Nurkic recently suffered a toe injury and will miss at least four weeks.

Jaxson Hayes, Mo Bamba and Jaren Jackson Jr. are among the Jazz’s options in the middle with Nurkic and Filipowski hurt.