Utah Jazz: Three silver linings to the Dante Exum injury

Injury taking place during preseason better than midway through the year

There’s never a good or convenient time for an injury. Never. And while it’s really disappointing that we didn’t get to see any glimpses of Dante Exum in regular season play against NBA competition, the fact of the matter is that the timing of the injury could have been much worse.

While Exum’s recovery time is still up in the air, it’s still possible that he makes a return to action prior to the end of the season and in time for a playoff push and postseason run. If that ends up being the case, it would be a magnificent tale of recovery and his mere presence on the floor would no doubt put Jazz fans into a frenzy.

However, as fun as it would have been to see Dante get some early run this season, imagine if an injury like this would have taken place in December or January, putting him out well into the offseason and once again hindering his preparation for the next season. That, in my mind, would have been even more devastating.

Especially consider how it would have felt if Dante was lighting it up night in and night out, then fell to injury. That would have been even more disappointing and likely would have left the Jazz reeling as they tried to recover from his absence.

At least now the Jazz have plenty of time to game plan without him in the lineup while games still don’t count for anything, and while we all felt like Dante was in for a big year, we don’t have the confirmation that such was going to be the case. What I mean is, rather than feel as if the Jazz took a huge step backwards losing Dante midseason, we will instead now enter the year without expectations of what “could have been” and will instead look forward to what he brings to the team once he finally does return.

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As I stated at this piece’s onset, losing Dante Exum is a huge blow for the Jazz and something that I sincerely wish from the deepest desires of my heart had not happened. The young man had been working so hard and finally looked primed to prove himself once and for all.

Nevertheless, neither he nor his Jazz teammates can afford to spend any time feeling self-pity or remorse. Instead, they all have to work hard to get back to the spot they want to be both individually and as a team.

And while I wish Exum could have been a part of this 2017-18 season and hadn’t gotten hurt, what’s done is done and now that we know he’ll be out for a while, I’m excited to see how his Jazz teammates and coaching staff bounce back and continue to put a winning product out on the court.