Utah Jazz: Three silver linings to the Dante Exum injury

Losing Dante Exum for potentially the season is far from a good thing for the Utah Jazz, nevertheless there are a few silver linings that may benefit the Jazz if they get fortunate enough.

Although it’s been an exciting preseason for the Utah Jazz thus far, their solid play has largely been overshadowed by the discouraging injury suffered by versatile combo guard Dante Exum. Exum’s confidence had never looked higher, he appeared cool, calm and collected on the floor, and he was certainly looking as if he was coming into his own in what many had pinned as a break-through season.

Unfortunately, that came to a screeching halt when Exum was collided into by the Phoenix Suns’ T.J. Warren, causing Dante to fall to the ground hard on his left shoulder and suffer a nasty injury.  Up to this point, we know that the shoulder is separated and that he did indeed suffer ligament damage, however, the extent of necessary recovery time has yet to be made officially known. There is speculation, though, that it could be a season-ending ailment.

That’s obviously terrible news no matter how you look at it. In a season that was set to be a year of discovery for the Utah Jazz and a proving grounds for several of their key players, Exum figured to have a phenomenal year. Nevertheless, his lengthy absence will now simply have to be something the Jazz adapt to and, as has become their mantra in recent years due to the constant onslaught of injuries, they’ll have to rely on a next-man up mentality.

To be clear, I would never suggest that Exum’s injury was a good thing either for him or for this Jazz team as such is certainly not the case. Make no mistake about it, in what was bound to be his best year as a pro yet, he will be very much missed. However, even when something goes wrong, there can always be positives gleaned out of it if you look hard enough.

Therefore, while I’m in no way saying that the following items make up for Exum’s injury or will come anywhere close to patching the void he will leave, in an effort to take a “glass half full” approach, these are three silver linings to the Exum injury happening how and when it did.

Alleviates wing log-jam, opens opportunities for others

Going into the 2017-18 season, it was clear that the Utah Jazz were pretty dang deep at the wing positions. Their starters were clearly slated to be newly acquired Ricky Rubio and rising star Rodney Hood, but waiting to come in off the bench was a slew of effective guys, namely Dante Exum, Donovan Mitchell and Alec Burks.

Fans clamored for Exum to get meaningful playing time last year and it appeared that 2017-18 would finally be the season that he was granted that opportunity. However, there’s no denying that the development of Donovan Mitchell, who could turn into a star, is important as well. Then there was Alec Burks who, although many hoped he’d round back into form, was projected by most to be the odd man out of the rotation.

However, after seeing his stellar preseason play thus far, he’s made a statement that he deserves to be on the court. Therein laid a difficult question facing Quin Snyder – which guards deserved the most playing time night in and night out of those five?

Now, however, the answer becomes pretty clear. Barring a major turnaround or (heaven forbid) further injuries to Alec Burks, he very much ought to be in the rotation, likely playing alongside Mitchell in the second unit. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know personally I’d much rather have Exum in there to help balance out Mitchell’s inexperience and Burks’ oft times unpredictability, but since we’re looking at silver linings, at least now the wing rotation ought to be pretty cut and dry.

Mitchell may have to be forced into running the point sooner than projected, but his former head coach at Louisville stated that the point is indeed Mitchell’s best position, so perhaps logging extended time at the point guard spot against NBA competition will indeed help him become a more effective player down the road.

Whether that ends up being the case or not, there’s certainly no debating that he’ll have to step up big time in Exum’s absence, regardless of whether he’s playing at the one or the two.

Meanwhile, Burks, who as I mentioned was projected by many to see very limited time off the bench, will now likely have a key role for the Jazz with Exum temporarily out of the mix. This will be his chance to prove his worth, something he has done exceptionally so far in preseason. As much as it pains me to see Exum go down, it will also be a glorious redemption story if Burks is then allowed to utilize this expanded opportunity afforded him to prove he truly can be a contributor.

So does having Exum out hurt the Jazz? Without a doubt. But hopefully when he returns, Mitchell will have gained some much-needed experience, Burks will have rounded back into form and an even stronger Dante will be able to produce a deadly attack alongside his two teammates who took advantage of his lengthy absence.

Jazz may be able to get a future star on a very friendly contract

For anybody who watched Dante Exum in preseason thus far, it was pretty hard to deny his star potential. Sure, Exum’s been touted as such since entering the league and has had a hard time living up to the lofty expectations so far. Furthermore, his preseason play came against two teams that were far beneath NBA talent.

Nevertheless, there are some skills and abilities on the court that simply hold up regardless of competition. And make no mistake about it, Exum looked dang good. People seem to forget, too, that he’s just 22-years old, meaning his upside is still significantly higher than almost anybody else on this Jazz team.

Therefore, I know that I, for one, and I imagine most if not all of Jazz brass, still has very high hopes that Exum can turn into a star in this league. As Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune stated following Exum’s injury, the game finally appeared to be slowing down for him, and his basketball instincts, quick first step and incredible length and athleticism were all starting to come together.

With that being the case, despite yet another injury setback for the young Aussie, the Jazz still are very likely planning to bring him back after this season. One of the reasons why the 2017-18 campaign was going to be so exciting for Dante was because he is in a contract year and would have had a ton to prove as he looks for a new contract.

Now, however, especially if he misses the entire year, he won’t have much of a past acumen to prove that he’s worthy of a hefty raise. The Jazz will still likely look to take care of him and show that they indeed trust him, but the fact of the matter is with two out of four seasons lost, Exum has little leverage to push for an enormous contract.

Therefore, the Jazz find themselves in a situation where, while Dante’s injury is frustrating to say the least for the time being, it may allow them to sign him to a new and quite affordable contract moving forward. Then, once he’s healthy and back in action, he still has shown all the signs that he can turn into a star player.

If it all works out that nicely, the Jazz could end up with a star on their hands at a very reasonable price, a la the Steph Curry situation. That’s by no means to say Exum is the next Steph Curry, but the idea of a great player at a low rate allowing other players to be added into the fold is a very reassuring picture for Jazz fans to imagine.

Time will tell how long Exum is out and how this injury truly does affect his pay once he hits restricted free agency at the end of the year, but one thing is certain, he’ll cost a lot less now than he would have had he had an absolutely amazing season. If that ends up working in Utah’s favor, then they’ll probably be willing to cope with one more year of setback in order to have several years of Exum at his finest and hopefully a daunting team around him.

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.

Next: Utah Jazz: Quin Snyder pins Joe Johnson as Sixth Man of the Year candidate

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.