2) Dante Exum’s Return
Despite Utah’s playoff aspirations last season, a lot of the wind was taken out of the Jazz sails before the year began when Dante Exum tore his ACL. The injury knocked him out for the entirety of last season and dramatically altered the team’s approach to pick-and-roll defense and the point guard spot at large.
When the Jazz took Exum with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, they had him pegged as a potential difference maker. While his offensive performance left room for growth, he was elite defensively during his rookie season.
He showed flashes of the game that had some comparing him to a young Penny Hardaway before the draft.
His return to the court in the preseason opener was ho-hum, but in the team’s last preseason game against the Phoenix Suns, Exum was back to turning heads; driving, dishing and playing like the team’s point guard of the future.
It’s going to take some time for him to regain a level of comfort on the floor. Even then, the former teen sensation has a lot of growing up to do. Nevertheless, the ability to watch him develop on the court, in actual games, while the team works to get back to the playoffs should be a joy for Jazz fans everhwhere.