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| via ESPN.com |
It took one game for Dante Exum to vault from relative anonymity to being listed as a top 5 prospect on DraftExpress. That game was the Nike Hoops Summit in April of 2013. As Jeff Goodman reported in June:
“The soft-spoken Aussie, then 17, let his game do the talking at the prestigious Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon. Following a 16-point performance in a game that featured projected lottery picks such as Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid, Julius Randle, Aaron Gordon, and Noah Vonleh, someone sidled up to Exum and informed him that the NBA draft site DraftExpress had slotted him fifth overall in its 2014 mock.”
More from Goodman on that game:
“In the days leading up to the 2013 Nike Hoop Summit game, which pits a group of the elite, hand-picked high school Americans against a team of selected international players, Exum yearned to guard his teammate Wiggins, a 6-foot-7 Canadian, in practice. In fact, he practically begged for the challenge -- and more than held his own. While Wiggins, a freakish athlete, occasionally got past Exum and soared to the rim, Exum also slowed down the consensus projected No. 1 overall pick.”
It was that showing at the Nike Hoops Summit (which by the way, is run by Rich Sheubrooks, a Nike global scout who also scouts for the Utah Jazz) that vaulted Dante Exum into the conversation.
Beyond that, well, there’s just not much to go on. Scouts flocked to the Under 19 World Championships where Exum played inconsistently through an ankle injury in pool play and then averaged 27.3 points per game in medal play. And that was it.
Exum had options. He could have played in the Australian professional league. All along the plan was for him to attend college in the states. His father played with Michael Jordan on the 1982 UNC National Championship team. If Dante's father had his way, Dante would go to UNC. Calipari offered for Dante to join Kentucky for only the second semester of the year weeks after graduating from high school in Australia (their school year ends in December), but his father shot that down viewing it as an impossible situation. Exum had options to showcase his talent before the draft, but why would he want to? As I said, the plan initially was for him to attend college in the states, not to enter into the draft. But once that buzz began and he shot up to a sure-fire lottery pick… he and his family smartly decided to take advantage of the opportunity and the best way to protect that draft stock was to be a mystery.
There are no statistics to be reviewed for Exum. There’s very little tape to break down to understand his tendencies as a player. There are no shot charts. So we caught glimpses of his speed, size, and athleticism at the combine and then Dante Exum was drafted by the Utah Jazz at # 5 overall (we thought he was going at 4) on the idea that some day, this super speedy, athletic, 19-year-old who seems to be mature beyond his years with a solid foundation of family support will someday be a very good NBA player.
Most NBA fans got their first glimpses of Dante in action at the Las Vegas Summer League this summer and let’s be honest, it was a little underwhelming. Dante averaged only 7.2 points per game on 30% shooting from the field. He did, however, show flashes of the speed, and versatility that he can provide and the dynamic between him and Trey Burke will still need to be hammered out. It looked like Dante was still learning how to be most effective without the ball in his hands.
After Summer League, we were lucky enough to get another glimpse of Exum before the season started at this years FIBA World Cup. Expectations were probably too high here, as the (once again) 19-year-old didn’t contribute consistently for an Australian team that played very well. This shouldn't have been viewed as a concern as National teams are often severely loyal to experienced players. Look how long it took Rubio to contribute to the Spanish national team.
So now here we are. Exum is on the brink of his NBA debut and Andrew Bogut has to defend his underwhelming summer. I implore you all, though, to temper expectations. Let this kid develop. He will show flashes, I have no doubt. But if he struggles early, let’s not all go Anthony Bennett on him, OK? OK.
Luckily, it seems like Utah is going to be one of the best places Exum could have landed. In 2012 the Jazz named Dennis Lindsey their new General Manager. Lindsey had previously spent time managing the Austin Toros (the Spurs D-League affiliate) at the same time that Quin Snyder was coaching there. During their time together there, the focus was on player development first and foremost and that’s something the pair plans to bring to this situation in Utah. That’s a solid pedigree. The Spurs have been applauded around the league for championing player development at the D-League level to help supply the back end of the roster. Surprisingly, it’s actually pretty rare that a high lottery draft pick gets drafted into a situation where the primary focus is player development. Teams don’t often work that way. Generally, there’s not enough patience in the NBA for that.
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| via ESPN.com |
The one concern that could affect Dante’s development with this team is the fit of Exum and Burke in the same backcourt. As we saw in Summer League, Dante struggled to adjust without the ball in his hands. That could be overblown though. Again, a lot of that is based on the idea we have in our heads about what type of player Dante Exum will be. Exum described himself as a ‘get-to-the-rim type player’ at the combine (He compared himself to Russell Westbrook in that context). What position does that sound like? Over the course of this season, that will be the most fascinating thing to watch with Dante Exum. How does he play in the same lineups with Trey Burke? Does he get minutes at point guard? Is he pass first or shoot first, and can he switch gears between those mindsets depending on the players he’s on the floor with?
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| via ESPN.com |
Regardless of position, Utah is going to fall in love with this kid. While their other young point guard is finding himself in precarious positions
already, Exum is by all accounts a super mature young man who
apparently (cliche alert:) WOWed NBA scouts during combine interviews.
The Australian accent does it for me. He immediately sounds credible.
What you should love though, is not his charismatic smile, it’s the
competitiveness that led him to ‘beg’ for the opportunity to guard
Andrew Wiggins in practice, or to rise above a lingering ankle injury to
average over 27 points a game when it mattered in the Under 19 World
Championships. It’s that competitive drive that makes me think, Exum
might struggle early, but in the long run, he’ll be just fine.
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