Mavericks suffer another major blow! Exum to undergo surgery, ending his season before it even starts: No appearances this year.

On November 21st Beijing time, the Dallas Mavericks officially declared that guard Dante Exum’s 2025-26 season has come to an early end before it started, as he will undergo surgery that sidelines him for the entire season.

The Mavericks reported that Exum has missed all games this fall due to ongoing complications from his right knee surgery during the offseason, and medical evaluations have determined that additional surgery is necessary to address the problem.

This marks the latest setback in Exum’s career-long injury struggles — the former fifth overall draft pick once played all 82 games in a season but missed the entire 2015-16 campaign (his second year) due to an ACL tear. Since then, he has battled shoulder, ankle, and knee injuries that have consistently affected his availability.

Between 2021 and 2023, Exum rebuilt his value in European leagues, returning to the NBA and signing with the Mavericks in the 2023 offseason. When healthy, the 30-year-old guard is an efficient role player, averaging 19.5 minutes, 8.0 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game, with shooting splits of 51.6% from the field, 47.2% from three, and 76.8% from the free-throw line.

However, since the 2023-24 season, he has appeared in only 75 games, including just 20 games in the 2024-25 season due to right wrist surgery and a fractured left hand.

Mavericks’ official Afses noted that the team’s management has recently been under heavy scrutiny, and the handling of Exum over the past few months warrants careful review.

As Afses emphasized, the Mavericks never publicly disclosed Exum’s offseason knee surgery, and to create enough cap space under the hard salary cap, they had to waive Prosper using the “stretch provision,” relinquishing his guaranteed $3 million salary just to re-sign Exum on a fully guaranteed minimum contract. Given Exum’s injury history, this was undoubtedly a high-risk move—especially with Irving still recovering from an ACL tear and the team urgently needing backcourt depth.

Currently, the Mavericks can waive Exum to open a roster spot, but due to hard cap restrictions, they cannot sign a replacement until January next year unless they reduce costs elsewhere. If Exum remains on the roster, the team can apply for a disabled player exception, but its value is only half of his salary, making it insufficient for practical use.