“A recess appointment only lasts until the end of the current Senate session. Appointing a USSC justice to serve until December 31st does nothing except help get through any election-related cases that may come up.”
Nothing stops Trump from working to formally place a nominee on the Court at the same that a recess appointment is seated, as far as I know, and per the article - so we get the best of both worlds, the seat is filled with our guy to see us through the election, and perhaps, hopefully, Trump is able to seat a permanent person early.
The best of both worlds is a permanent placement on the court before the election.
I don’t know for sure that an approach like that one would work. If he fills the seat temporarily through a recess appointment, then technically there is no vacancy and therefore no appointment to be made.