Utah Jazz hope to have former first-round pick Dante Exum back from injury by the end of March

Memphis, Tenn. • Many of Utah’s bumps and bruises have healed recently, leaving just one major health question on every Jazz fan’s mind.

When is Dante Exum coming back?

The 22-year-old guard is still working on his recovery from a left shoulder injury from the preseason. Coach Quin Snyder said he’s been playing two-on-two and three-on-three scrimmages with contact and participating in team practices. Many fans have been able to see Utah’s 2014 lottery pick in action during pregame drills in recent weeks, drumming up anticipation for his comeback, targeted before the end of the month.

Exum is traveling with the Jazz on the three-game road trip, and Snyder seemed encouraged by what he’s seen lately.

“We’re continuing to monitor how he’s doing, but there’s not been a lot of contact in practice because of the games,” Snyder said. “But he’s involved in everything we can get involved in.”

Some of the key figures in Exum’s recovery are actually some of the players who don’t get much time in games: Tony Bradley, as well as two-way players Erik McCree and Georges Niang. They’re some of Exum’s scrimmage partners in the contact drills he’s able to do.

They all present unique matchups, from Bradley’s length, to McCree’s ability to attack from the wing, to Niang’s all-around ability to shoot outside as well as post up. Bradley, McCree and Niang are all traveling with the team this week as well, and Snyder said he’s enjoyed seeing the banter between them and Exum.

“Those games get pretty spirited,” Snyder said. “They talk to each other a little bit and remind each other who won the last game. That’s the kind of competitiveness we need.”

First to 150

Donovan Mitchell passed an intriguing milestone in the third quarter of Friday’s game: He hit his 150th 3-pointer of the season.

With that shot, Mitchell became the fastest rookie to reach that mark — not a bad accomplishment for a prospect who was seen as an iffy shooter before he was drafted.

“There are bigger things to look at, but I’m honored to have that under my belt,” Mitchell said. “My biggest thing is always repetition and getting reps, no matter how I get them. Something like this shows that repetition and hard work definitely comes through in the end.”

Overall, it was a tough shooting night for the rookie, who was 4 for 15 from the floor. But three of those field goals were 3-pointers — a transition dunk was his lone basket inside the arc.