Utah Jazz confirm injured Aussie Dante Exum still part of future NBA plans

INJURIES have so far cruelled Dante Exum’s NBA career, but the Utah Jazz maintain high hopes the Aussie Boomer, still just 22, can be part of the organisation’s long-term success.

DON’T write off Dante Exum.

That’s the resounding message coming out of the Utah Jazz about the uber-talented, but oft-injured Aussie as he continues his recovery from the “freak” October accident that left him with a wrecked shoulder and threatened his season.

While there are concerns among the Jazz supporter base about Exum’s durability, Utah’s executive director, basketball operations and global scouting Richard Smith says, internally, the organisation maintains high hopes the Boomer, still just 22, can be part of its long-term success.

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Dante Exum was just starting to fulfil his potential against the likes of Houston superstar James Harden when injury struck again. Picture: Getty Images

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“We still think he’s got a lot of basketball in him and we think he’s going to be a very good player,” Smith told the Herald Sun while on a scouting mission in Spain.

“We’ve just got to have patience and the due diligence to work with him and do it the right way and make sure we’re doing everything we can for him so that he can maximise the potential he’s got as a professional player going forward.”

“We’re very high on him — we’ve been very high on him since the day we selected him.”

To remind everyone, Dante Exum is only 21. And he has spent his NBA career rebounding from an ACL injury. SL has been good for him. pic.twitter.com/LsfhW8jWwz

— kristen kenney (@kristenkenney) July 6, 2017

The Melbourne-born guard missed the entire 2015-16 NBA season after tearing his ACL while playing for the Boomers in 2016. He then separated his shoulder during a preseason game, requiring surgery to repair his AC joint — just as he was beginning to fulfil the potential that lured the Jazz into selecting him with the fifth pick in the 2014 draft.

The Jazz are yet to release a timetable on Exum’s return.

“People are trying to say that he’s injury prone and whatnot, but we don’t think that’s the case,” Smith said.

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.@KristenKenney sat down with Danté Exum to talk about his injury.

Check out her exclusive interview now. pic.twitter.com/aIo86M04Xq

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 19, 2017

“We just think that he had a freak fall where he was using his athletic ability to get up to the rim and somebody brushed him and got him off balance just enough so that he fell on that shoulder.

“He’s a great kid ... hasn’t been able to perform to the way we think he’s capable of, nor the way he believes he is capable of, just because of the couple of setbacks he’s had injury-wise.

“That doesn’t deter us from continuing to work with him and knowing that, the kind of kid he is, he’s going to have success.”

Smith has been with the Jazz in various roles for more than 20 years and was involved in the drafting of the athletically gifted Exum at No.5 in the 2014 draft, along with the signing of fellow Aussie Joe Ingles.

Chen Yue's journey from China to College BBall w/help from Jazz's Richard Smith 😭😭😭

Watch: https://t.co/52z8qHvZdd pic.twitter.com/rludgT5TIy

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 16, 2016

“We knew he (Exum) was a hard worker and we had an opportunity to interview him prior to the draft and we were quickly able to make the assessment that he was 18-going-on-28,” Smith said.

“Mentally, he had his act together. He was smart, spoke well and presented himself in a professional manner and you could just tell that this guy’s gonna be a pro’s pro.

“We didn’t think we’d have an opportunity to draft him, because we thought he’d go before us and so we were kind of surprised and felt fortunate he fell to us in the draft.”

Utah rookie Donovan Mitchell has capitalised on Dante Exum’s absence. Picture: AP

Smith says he sees a lot of similarities between Exum and Utah’s boom rookie guard Donovan Mitchell, who is challenging another Aussie in Ben Simmons for Rookie of the Year favouritism.

“He’s (Mitchell’s) a young man who is mature beyond his years, he’s got his act together, he knows who he is as a person, he’s developing as a professional basketball player, he’s a hard worker — he’s like Dante,” Smith said.

“He’s gotten out of the blocks very quickly here (but) he’s had a couple of things that have helped him and one of them is Dante’s injury.

“Maybe he doesn’t get as many opportunities early on if Dante’s healthy and playing, because Dante was ready to go before his injury and he was going to play a lot of minutes, but some of those minutes have probably fallen to Donovan and he’s taken advantage of it.”

Aussie teammates Joe Ingles and Dante Exum ham it up on a team flight.

Exum with fellow Aussie and Philadelphia star Ben Simmons.