Utah Jazz fans won’t see Dante Exum again until after All-Star break

Despite being reevaluated on Tuesday, the Utah Jazz announced that Dante Exum will remain sidelined with an ankle sprain until after the All-Star break.

If you were looking forward to seeing Dante Exum potentially return to action for the Utah Jazz in the coming days, then prepare to be disappointed. Tuesday marked reevaluation day for Utah’s slew of injured Jazzmen and unfortunately the verdict on Dante was the most discouraging of all.

Though it was announced that Exum (sprained ankle) is indeed making “progress towards a return”, that so-called progress is apparently quite slow. Dante is still out and won’t be evaluated anew until after the All-Star break. That means he won’t suit up for any of Utah’s six remaining games between now and February 12th. And considering that after that he’ll merely be reevaluated, it’s entirely possible that he’ll be out of commission even longer.

That’s not good news for the Jazz who could certainly use his length on defense and his depth on the wing, especially with four of their six upcoming contests coming against current playoff foes in the Western Conference.

Exum isn’t the only one that remains on the mend as both Thabo Sefolosha (hamstring strain) and Raul Neto (groin strain) were also both reevaluated. Both are apparently on the up and up, but will simply undergo yet another reevaluation in a week’s time.

As such, expect the likes of Royce O’Neale and Georges Niang to continue to get extended playing time in their absences. Royce has played great of late and even Niang deserves credit for some nice minutes recently.

Of course, of the three injuries, Exum’s appears to be the most lingering and is easily the most disappointing. Exum’s tenure with the Jazz continues to be riddled with injury, which has prevented him from ever finding any sort of rhythm or flow with the team. One would aim to be optimistic that he could make a brilliant return, but based on his track record, it will likely be a slow path back to effectiveness for Exum.

Make no mistake about it, he’s had an odd career with the Jazz, considering how rarely he’s been available. By the time this year’s All-Star break is up, Exum will have appeared in just 201 games out of a potential 373 during his five-year career. That’s barely over 53 percent and it’s been even less that in recent seasons considering he played all 82 his rookie year.

If this trend continues, it’s going to become hard to justify the lucrative contract the Jazz extended to the highly unproven Exum this past summer. He’s had some flashes, sure, but nothing nearly as vital as what the Jazz have long hoped he could be.

Of course, with the February 7th NBA trade deadline upon us before the All-Star break, there is some speculation that Dante may have already played his last game in Utah and could very well be on the move before making a return. I suppose he could be included in a potential big-time deal to match salaries, but I honestly have a hard time seeing any teams being too eager to deal for him, especially with him out due to injury.

Anything is possible, but I suspect that Exum will remain on the roster past February 7th, even if he likewise will also remain on the bench.

From there, ideally his reevaluation after the All-Star break will be a quick and favorable one and he’ll be able to be back in action for the season’s closing stretch so that he, along with his Utah Jazz team, is in peak form by the start of playoff action.