Dante Exum signs $45m NBA deal with Utah Jazz

Rising star Dante Exum has agreed to a contract with the Utah Jazz worth tens of millions of dollars.

Dante Exum has battled injury in his time at the Jazz, but they have re-signed the Australian to a rich deal. Picture: Getty

Australian guard Dante Exum has agreed to a three-year, $US33 million ($45m) contract extension with the Utah Jazz.

Exum battled through multiple injuries since the Jazz drafted him with the fifth overall pick in 2014, but the big contract shows the confidence team management have in the 22-year-old.

The NBA’s free agency period opened on Sunday and some elite players have had to settle for relatively cheap contracts in what has become a barren marketplace for non-superstar talent.

Fellow Australian Aron Baynes signed a two-year, $US11m ($15m) deal to remain at the Boston Celtics despite breakout performances during the playoffs.

Exum’s contract also eclipsed the two-year, $US4.4m ($6m) deal his Jazz teammate, Brazilian guard Raul Neto, agreed to on Tuesday.

The Jazz re-signed unrestricted free agent Derrick Favors on a two-year, $US36m ($48.5m) deal on Monday although the second year is not guaranteed.

NBA players have been willing to sign one-year deals for the coming year, with the hope a bump in the salary cap next season will allow teams to pay bigger long-term contracts next year.

Exum and fellow Australian Joe Ingles have become key players in the Jazz’s emergence as a playoff team in the NBA’s loaded Western Conference. Exum earned about $US4m ($5.5m) a year in each of his early seasons in the NBA.

Australia’s NBA players have been cashing in in recent years. Ingles is on a four-year, $US52m ($70.5m) deal with the Jazz, Patty Mills has a four-year, $US50m ($67.5m) contract with the San Antonio Spurs and Matthew Dellavedova signed a four-year, $US38.4m ($52m) deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.

AAP