Dante Exum left the Jazz‘s preseason game against the Suns on Friday with a shoulder injury that overshadowed the team’s eventual 112-101 victory. The non-televised game did not provide visuals of Exum’s injury but Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said it was serious.
“If you saw his shoulder it didn’t look good,” Snyder told reporters, including Jazz radio host David Locke (Twitter link).
Snyder’s initial prognosis was accurate as Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Exum separated his left shoulder and suffered ligament damage. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link) reports that Exum could miss the entire season but there is no current timetable for a recovery.
Season-shortening injuries are not unknown to the 22-year-old Exum as he missed the entire 2015/16 season due to a torn ACL. The Melbourne, Australia, native returned last season to play in 66 games (26 starts) where he averaged 6.2 PPG and 2.0 RPG in 18.6 minutes.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes that Exum’s injury puts the Jazz roster in a tough situation. Backup point guard Raul Neto would need Jazz to waive or trade one of its 15 guaranteed contracts to make room for him. However, the Jazz could also rely on rookie Donovan Mitchell if Neto does not make the team.
Wow. They were relying on him starting to be more productive. Unfortunate. Was looking forward to seeing him more this year after summer league…they have Mitchell and Burks that could see more time
Exum has a (-2.79) rpm. They’re better off with Mitchell and maybe Neto too picking up those reserve minutes. But Rubio has to stay healthy or they could fall.