Death, taxes, and Utah Jazz injuries are just a few of the certainties in life. Last night, the latter of the three was realized. Jazz point guard Dante Exum suffered a separated shoulder and ligament damage in the first half of last night’s preseason game against the Phoenix Suns according to Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune. Utah has not given a timetable for Exum’s return.
This is quite a blow for a Jazz team that lost George Hill in the offseason. Exum was expected to take a step forward this season and play a more prominent role in the offense. He is still only 22 years old, but this injury is another major one in Exum’s short career. He also tore his ACL in 2015 playing for the Australian national.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski says team doctors are looking into the injury as well, though Exum may potentially miss the season.
Sources: Utah's Dante Exum could miss season with separated left shoulder. Doctors, Jazz officials conferring on recovery/timetable options.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 7, 2017
If this injury to Dante Exum sounds familiar, it’s because Kevin Love suffered the same one in the 2015 playoffs. That sidelined him for around five months, though he recovered nicely. Exum is younger than Love, but the Jazz will surely be careful with their former first-round pick.
Utah traded for Ricky Rubio this past offseason, but he is still adjusting to the slower pace of the Jazz offense. Raul Neto will likely see more minutes at point guard in Exum’s absence. Rookie Donovan Mitchell ran some point guard yesterday and could get time there as well. The Jazz have endured the injury bug for several seasons now, but at this point it feels like an injury plague.
