The Utah Jazz are apparently committed to running it back in 2018-19 with last season’s roster, as they have taken care of their own guys this summer.
After guaranteeing Thabo Sefolosha’s contract and reaching a two-year deal with Derrick Favors, Utah’s attention could turn to restricted free agent point guard Dante Exum. While Exum has not had the impact many hoped when he was drafted in 2014, the Australian point guard has shown flashes of that potential we all saw at Summer League that season in between injury issues.
Exum was solid for Utah in their postseason run to the second round, and they have rewarded him with a handsome contract and some job security in the form of a three-year, $33 million deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Utah Jazz restricted free agent Dante Exum has agreed to a three-year, $33M contract extension, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2018
That’s a strong deal for Exum considering the market for the middle tier of free agents hasn’t exactly been fruitful this summer, but Utah is without any cap space to go out and add help, so it makes sense that they’d be fairly aggressive in ensuring they keep their guys around. The Jazz now have a strong backcourt rotation with Ricky Rubio, Donovan Mitchell, Dante Exum, Raul Neto (also recently re-signed) and Alec Burks.
The Jazz are hoping another year together will yield similar if not better results as guys like Mitchell and Exum hopefully continue to develop, and with their depth and talent they figure to once again be a pesky playoff squad out West among the superteams forming.
