The Cleveland Cavaliers will be without point guard Dante Exum for an “extended period of time” due to an ankle injury.
Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff says Exum is using crutches:
The Cavs acquired Exum from the Utah Jazz in the Jordan Clarkson trade. Exum has appeared in 24 games with Cleveland and is averaging 5.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists while shooting 47.9 percent from the field, 35.1 percent from beyond the arc and 73.2 percent from the free-throw line.
Exum never lived up to the hype of being the fifth overall pick in the 2014 draft with the Utah Jazz. He has career averages of just 5.7 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Exum missed the entire 2015-16 season due to a knee injury.
Exum is making $9,100,000 this season and will earn $9,100,000 in 2020-21, the final year of his contract. It would be a nice story if he can jumpstart his career in Cleveland. Exum’s best season with the Jazz was in 2017-18 when he averaged 8.1 points and 3.1 assists while playing stellar defense.
In the second-post LeBron James era, the Cavs are looking to build their roster around Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Cedi Osman, Kevin Porter Jr. and Larry Nance Jr. We’ll see what the future holds for Exum in Cleveland since the Cavs already have Sexton and Garland on the roster.
