Dallas Mavericks guard Dante Exum will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 NBA season, the team announced Thursday. Exum underwent a knee procedure during the offseason but has continued to deal with complications. As a result, he has not played in a regular season game this year. It has been determined that Exum will require another surgery and will miss the entire campaign as a result.
Exum has unfortunately endured no shortage of injury trouble over the years. He's been a reliable guard while on the floor, but Dallas will have to lean on other guards amid his absence this season.
The 30-year-old last appeared in an NBA game during the 2024-25 campaign. However, Exum was limited to 20 contests played. He made his Mavs debut during the 2023-24 season — the year that saw Dallas reach the NBA Finals. Exum made a big impact in 55 games, as he started 17 and provided pivotal guard depth behind Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.
With Doncic now in LA with the Lakers and Irving currently injured, the Mavs' guard situation is questionable at best. They experimented with Cooper Flagg at point guard earlier in the season, but he's since moved back to his natural position at forward. D'Angelo Russell and Brandon Williams have been running the point, but Russell is extremely inconsistent and Williams is inexperienced.
Things have certainly changed over the past couple of years, but the Mavericks were hopeful that Exum could bring some sort of stability to the point guard position. Now, one has to wonder if Dallas will look to bring in another point guard with Exum out for the year.
