Utah Jazz: Crikey! Dante Exum officially available for Suns game

After a lengthy rehab process, Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum will finally make his long-awaited season debut on Thursday.

So, a lot has happened over the last 160 days. The Shape of Water came out of nowhere to win the Oscar for Best Picture. President Trump hired and fired some people. The Winter Olympics happened and Team USA failed to crack the medal count’s top three.

Also — seasons changed, 2017 became 2018 and I dressed up as Marty McFly for Halloween. We’re talking a really, really long list of things. Unfortunately for Utah Jazz fans, Dante Exum taking the court in a regular season game wasn’t one of them.

Following a long rehab process and a lot of anticipation from Jazz Nation, however, that domino is finally set to fall on Thursday. According to the team’s most recent injury report, Exum will be available to play that night against the Phoenix Suns.

Coincidentally, that’s the same team the Jazz were playing when Exum was last on the court. During Utah’s October 6 preseason showdown with the Suns, his shoulder was hurt on what was a reckless attempt at a blocked shot by Suns forward TJ Warren. Exum’s shoulder was re-stabilized surgically later that month and has been on the mend ever since.

After being a partial participant in Jazz practice over the last several weeks, the former No. 5 overall pick joined the team’s G-League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, for two practice sessions over the last two days. Those assignments were part of the final stage in his return-to-play protocol.

With his return to the court comes a lot of expectations from fans about what he can bring to the table. My advice for them — slow your roll. Look for Exum to be on a minutes restriction for at least his first handful of games. Moreover, he’ll undoubtedly be more than a little rusty after missing five-plus months of action.

Having said that, it’s hard not to get caught up in the hype myself. Despite multiple injuries, Exum still has all the physical tools to be a major difference-maker in the league. He also has the look of an ideal backcourt complement to first-year phenom Donovan Mitchell.

More from The J-Notes

• With the FIBA World Cup over for Simone Fontecchio, it’s clear he deserves minutes for the Utah Jazz
• Best, Worst and Most likely scenarios for the Utah Jazz this season
• Hoops Hype downplays the significance of the Utah Jazz’s valuable assets
• 3 Utah Jazz players who have the most to gain or lose this season
• Former Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gay is a free agent still and it shouldn’t surprise anyone

During the Utah Jazz Summer League, the duo displayed nice on-court chemistry. They were by and large the best players on the floor in those games. For his part, Exum averaged 20 points, six assists and four rebounds over that three-game stretch.

At the least, Exum should help the team in its playoff pursuit once he gets up to speed. With Raul Neto fracturing his wrist and the Jazz’s second unit still figuring some things out sans Rodney Hood, there’s definitely a need for his services.

If Exum can give any indication that some of his sky-high potential remains intact over the stretch run, it will go a long way toward helping his cause when he hits restricted free agency this summer.

In 148 career games with the Jazz (67 starts), Exum has averaged just over five points and two assists per contest.