2018-19 NBA Season: 5 injury-prone youngsters with the most to prove

#4 Dante Exum

Houston Rockets v Utah Jazz - Game Four

While Exum is among the 2014 draft class high picks who seem like they've been around forever, he hasn't had a clean bill of health for a single year except his rookie season, when he played all 82 games and averaged 4.8 points and 2.4 assists in 22.2 minutes of game time.

In 2015, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee playing for the Australian national team, which ruled him out of the entire 2015-16 Jazz campaign. After that, he's had a shoulder surgery through the summer of 2017, following a comeback from this ligament tear.

Niggles and small tweaks have deprived him of the opportunity to grow into the backup PG role that he's eminently capable of fulfilling. His most recent injury came in Game 4 of the second round of playoffs against the Rockets - a hamstring strain that ruled him out of the final Jazz game of the season.

The front office has decided to persist with the youngster, who's still only 23 years old right now and could conceivably be an asset to the team. But he does need to steer clear of injury for that to happen.