DETROIT – After what he experienced nearly two months ago, it must have been like a déjà vu moment for Dallas Mavericks guard Dante Exum.
Exum missed the Jan. 7 home game against Minnesota with a sprained right plantar fascia, then missed six games from Jan. 9-22 with the foot issue. He also missed three games from Jan. 27-29 with soreness in his right knee, missed 10 games from Jan. 31 — and Feb. 5-27 — with right knee bursitis.
And that’s not including the Dec. 22 game at Houston which Exum missed with a lower left leg contusion, along with the two games he missed from Jan. 3-5 with a right heel contusion. All of those misfortunes took Exum back in time to a period where he would rather forget.
After being the No. 5 overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz, Exum’s career was plagued by one injury after another. So much so that he missed the entire 2015-16 season due to left anterior cruciate ligament surgery.
Later on, there were more problems that cost him the first 68 games of the 2017-18 season after undergoing surgery on his left shoulder. Plus, while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Exum suffered a strained right calf on Jan. 4, 2021 at Orlando and missed the remaining 68 games of the season.
Following that season, Exum went to Europe and played two seasons for FC Barcelona Lassa and KK Partizan before returning to the NBA and signing a free agent contract with the Mavs last summer.
Going back to the game on Jan. 7 against Minnesota, Exum said he made a simple basketball play and: “I was just landing on my foot. It was weird. I didn’t think it was going to be as bad as it was.
“I thought it was kind of just a little thing in my foot, but obviously everything runs through your feet. It’s an important part. I think the biggest thing for me was knowing that I wasn’t feeling right, and I didn’t want to injure anything else and make anything else worst.”
Exum has been back on the court – he hopes for good – since the Mavs defeated Toronto on Feb. 28. In those five games entering Saturday’s contest in Detroit, he’s averaged 5.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 14.6 minutes while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 75 percent from three-point land.
That includes racking up 13 points, four rebounds and five assists in just 17 minutes – and converting a clutch three-pointer and a pair of free throws in the waning moments of Thursday’s 114-108 triumph over the Miami Heat.
It’s a game where the Heat scored 36 points in the first quarter, but were limited to just 22, 25 and 25 points, respectively, by the Mavs over the course of the final three quarters.
“I think we have kind of proven that we are a team that can play defense,” Exum said. “We just got to make sure it’s our identity going forward. I think that’s a big thing for us. Staying on the same page.
“It’s the NBA. Teams are going to score and they’re going to get easy buckets sometimes. But I think we need to eliminate it as much as possible and stay together once those easy buckets do happen.”
Detroit Pistons coach Monty Williams has watched Exum’s career from afar and appears to be a fan.
“I thought he was a good player when he was younger in Utah,” Williams said. “He just had some injuries, and that happens.
“He’s improved his shot. Watching film on him and watching him earlier this year, you can tell he’s settled in his game. He’s been a great addition for their team.”
“Watching him hit big shot after big shot down the stretch, and then he’s a guy that’s played the point guard position,” Williams said. “So, he’s on the back side when he does get the ball, he’s pretty good either shooting the ball or facilitating.”
Mavs coach Jason Kidd is just happy Exum is back and able to give him another player in his rotation he can turn to.
“Our depth is important,” Kidd said. “We’ve got to be able to use that. As a player, a lot of times when you’re hurt, and you’re getting to play a lot more minutes than you normally would — and there’s an adjustment when you are fully healthy — guys are trying to figure that out right now.”
So, too, is Exum.
“I’m just trying to fit in where I can again,” Exum said. “Obviously, rhythm is a big thing and getting back to game shape and everything.
“I think just getting to your spots and getting there early, and then once you’re there just kind of finding that. It goes back to game fitness and all that. There’s so many variables that come into it.”
Kidd certainly agrees with that assessment.
“We like (Exum) closing (the games), and I think we liked him when he was starting with Luka (Doncic) and (Kyrie Irving) and (Dereck Livey II),” Kidd said. “We need him to play every game. Right now we’re trying to keep him under 25 minutes is important.”
BRIEFLY: Mavs center Dereck Lively II missed Saturday’s game against Detroit for personal reasons. Coach Jason Kidd said he didn’t know if Lively would be available to play in Monday’s game against Chicago.
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