Dante Exum Signs With FC Barcelona
Dec 7, 2021, 1:51 PM | Updated: 2:01 pm
Dante Exum #11 of the Utah Jazz plays the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center on November 3, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – Dante Exum is signing a contract with FC Barcelona.
According to the club, the former Utah Jazz lottery pick has signed a short-term deal with the team that will run through the end of February.
Exum was selected by the Jazz with the fifth overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and was expected to be a central piece in the team’s rebuilding plans.
However, with the emergence of Rudy Gobert and Gordon Hayward, and a litany of injuries, Exum never reached his full potential in a Jazz uniform.
🏀 Les imatges de la revisió mèdica de @daanteee
🔵🔴 #ForçaBarça! pic.twitter.com/Yw96NidCn3
— Barça Basket (@FCBbasket) December 7, 2021
The guard has appeared in 245 games so far in his NBA career, 215 of which came with the Jazz between 2014 and 2019.
Shortly before Christmas in 2019, the Jazz shipped Exum and two second-round draft picks to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Jordan Clarkson which has quickly materialized into one of the best trades in franchise history.
Clarkson has become one of the premier bench scorers in the NBA and was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year last season.
Exum played 24 games in Cleveland during the 2019-20 season before sustaining a leg injury and appeared in just six games with the Cavaliers last season.
The guard played a key role in Australia’s run to the bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Houston Rockets before the beginning of this season, but was waived before opening night.
Hell yeah @daanteee 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 https://t.co/3Jes7y0HkY
— Joe Ingles (@Joeingles7) December 7, 2021
FC Barcelona is one of the top clubs in the Liga ACB and competes in the EuroLeague. Barca has opened the season at 11-2 and sits atop the league standings.
Exum will join former BYU star Brandon Davies, as well as former NBA players Alex Abrines and Nikola Mirotic. The club needed additional depth in the backcourt after former University of Florida guard Nick Calathes suffered an injury.
Current Jazzman Joe Ingles also played for FC Barcelona before leaving Europe for the NBA.
Exum could return to the NBA before the playoffs once his contract with Barcelona expires at the end of the European regular season.
