When Dante Exum decided to opt for surgery to repair the AC joint in his left shoulder, the timeline looked as if he could miss the entire season.
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To his and Jazz General Manager Dennis Lindsey's credit, they remained optimistic that the 22-year-old could see a return to the court this year.
On Saturday (AEDT), Lindsey revealed that the Jazz are planning to have Exum back in the lineup in mid to late March, according to Spencer Checketts of The Zone Sports Network.
Dennis Lindsey tells @1280sports that the Jazz are planning to have Dante Exum to return to the lineup in mid-late March.
— Spencer Checketts (@1280Spence) February 10, 2018
When Exum initially went down with the shoulder injury after a collision in the preseason on October 6th, he explored the option of a non-surgery rehab.
After seeing three different doctors, and speaking to about six or seven more the Aussie decided to have what looked to be a season-ending procedure.
“I’m confident with the decision I made,” Exum told Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News in October. “That’s why we took a lot of time to make the right decision for me, not just this year but long term.
"There was a non-surgical option, but we evaluated that and it didn’t seem like the right choice for me at this time of my career.”
Following a busy trade deadline day that saw Utah trade away Rodney Hood and Joe Johnson, a late March return could see Exum hop right into a rotation that should have plenty of minutes available for him at one of the two guard spots.
The Jazz currently sit just 0.5 games out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Exum who will be a restricted free-agent at the end of this season would surely relish the opportunity to solidify his spot in Utah for years to come.
