For the Utah Jazz, this most recent offseason has been a rollercoaster from a personnel standpoint. They lost two key components of their successful 2016-17 campaign in veterans George Hill and Gordon Hayward, and though they made some nice moves as well such as adding Ricky Rubio, perimeter scoring remains an issue that needs to be addressed.
With so much scoring responsibility freed up, a lot of the expectations turned to their younger guard unit of Alec Burks, Rodney Hood, Dante Exum, and recent 1st round draft pick Donovan Mitchell. However, that corps will be shorthanded for the start of the season and maybe beyond as Dante Exum suffered a shoulder injury in the preseason that may be more serious than initially anticipated. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Exum is considering his options outside of season-ending surgery which remains a real possibility:
Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum is weighing rehabilitation options on his separated left shoulder that could preclude him from undergoing season-ending surgery, league sources told ESPN.
The Jazz and Exum have been exploring multiple medical opinions on an injured shoulder that suffered ligament damage in a preseason game collision on Oct. 6.
With Exum expected to serve as the sole backup to the fragile Ricky Rubio, losing his services for an extended stretch will certainly be detrimental. This will be the second serious injury in Exum’s young career as the 22-year old Australian also tore his ACL prior to the 2015-16 season.
With so much untapped potential, you have to hope he has a quick recovery from this most recent setback. For the Jazz, we should see Alec Burks take on more of the ball-handling responsibilities along with an increased role for exciting young prospect Donovan Mitchell.
