Utah Jazz small forward Gordon Hayward has suffered a dislocated and broken left finger, which will keep out of action for 4-6 weeks, according to Jody Genessy of the Desert News.

If Hayward does end up missing the maximum of six weeks due to his injury, he will miss the first thirteen games of the 2016-2017 NBA season. Utah will most likely turn to off-season accusation Joe Johnson to take Hayward’s place at small forward, to give the Jazz a lineup of George Hill, Rodney Hood, Johnson, Derrick Favors, and Rudy Gobert.

Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey said on a local sports radio program that he believes that during practice one of Hayward’s fingers ended up getting caught in another players practice jersey. The joint in Hayward’s finger is stable and able to move per Lindsey.

Hayward averaged 19.7 points, 3.7 assists, and 5 rebounds per game in 80 regular season games for the Jazz in 2015-2016. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer if he exercises the player option in his contract for the 2017-2018 season.

[twitter-follow screen_name='tony_montalto' show_count='yes']