Two summers ago, Dante Exum was one of the most intriguing young basketball prospects in the land. But after staggering through a less-than-impressive rookie season with the Jazz, then blowing out his knee playing for his native Australia in an international friendly, Exum seems like all but a forgotten man. However, he may soon be on the fast track to reclaiming some of that old charm.
The Jazz announced on Saturday that Exum was recently cleared for full-contact basketball activities after missing his entire sophomore year with a torn left ACL, per Marc Stein of ESPN. The 20-year-old will not suit up for the Australian national team in this summer’s Rio Olympic Games though, and will instead focus on rehabbing.
Utah says Dante Exum was recently cleared to return to full-contact basketball activities after missing the entire 2015-16 season (knee).
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 19, 2016
The Jazz just announced that Dante Exum will not participate in Australian national team activities this summer and focus on injury rehab.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 19, 2016
It’s a legitimate question as to how the former No. 5 overall pick will look after suffering that knee injury last August (video here). Exum flashed a surprising amount of potential on the defensive end during his rookie campaign for the Jazz in 2014-15, but he had a ghost of a jumper and seemed to have some real difficulty adjusting to the pace and the physicality of the NBA game.
Exum can only improve on his forgettable rookie averages of 4.8 points per game, 1.6 rebounds per game, and 2.4 assists per game. Hopefully, an emergent Jazz team that improved by two games without him last season but still failed to qualify for the postseason will give Exum the developmental minutes he needs and put him in a position to compete with Trey Burke and Shelvin Mack for the starting point guard job in 2016-17.
