The Utah Jazz had a rough last couple of nights of the regular season. First they lost to the Dallas Mavericks in a crucial game for their playoff hopes on Monday. Then on Wednesday they were eliminated from the playoffs before having to play Kobe Bryant in his last NBA game in which he dropped 60 points.
Despite missing out on the playoffs and the current bad taste in their mouth, the future still looks bright for the Jazz as they have some young players who took major steps forward this year. Another positive sign is that they almost made the playoffs without Dante Exum who missed the entire season due to a torn ACL.
Exum played in every game for the Jazz as a rookie, and although he struggled they still view him as their point guard of the future. Even though the 20-year-old Australian lost this season due to injury, he still says that he has learned a lot watching his teammates from the sidelines. Exum added that when he does get back on the court he expects to be better than ever before.
As for when he might be able to get back on the court, Exum has been cleared to do basically everything except for full contact. With the season having ended the Jazz can obviously afford to take it slow with him, but it is expected that he will be cleared for contact around June. The Jazz aren't expected to allow their prized young point guard to play in the summer league, but there still is a chance he could play for Australia this summer.
That news may be scary to Jazz fans considering Exum tore his ACL playing for Australia last summer, but he has not yet made an official decision regarding his status with the team. If Exum is cleared for contact in June, like is expected, the timing would work out almost perfectly because that is right when Australia begins preparing for the Olympics. Exum, though, did say he wouldn't play unless he was 100 percent confident in himself and his body.
As a rookie Exum appeared in all 82 games and played 22.2 minutes per game. Exum struggled with his shooting as he made just 35 percent of his field goals and 31 percent of his threes, but he showed some flashes and the Jazz like his size (6-foot-6) for a point guard and his potential. While Utah views the Aussie as its point guard of the future, he will not be guaranteed the starting spot next season because Shelvin Mack is expected to stick around, and he impressed in his time with the team this season.
