Young Jazz point guard Dante Exum played all 82 games as a rookie, averaging 4.8 ppg on 34.9% FG. He then missed his entire second season due to injury. Exum is now healthy and set to return to action, though the Jazz have now added veteran PG George Hill, which takes pressure off of Exum and allows him to develop at his own pace. Here’s the Here’s the Deseret News reporting:
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Exum, the fifth pick of the 2014 draft, said he’s never been so pumped up for a practice as he was leading up to the beginning of training camp. Sitting out for a year can do that to a hungry and enthusiastic young man.
“I was just excited to get back out there,” Exum said after the first of two practices Tuesday. “I was feeling good. I was just ready to come out there, talk when I can and run between every drill.”
Both his attitude and his body were at 100 percent as he returned from a yearlong rehab that followed his September 2015 surgery on his left knee that had been injured in a friendly international game with the Australian team.
Exum said sitting out of games — especially staying home watching on TV when the team was on the road — was his biggest challenge during that lengthy ordeal. He also struggled seeing his teammates practice and improve while he wasn’t able to do anything on the court. The mental part of this experience, one prolonged by the Jazz’s extra-cautious rehab process, could be more difficult than the physical at times. Even so, he learned patience and got to know his coach’s mindset better while sitting behind the bench during games.
