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Dante Exum should spend time in the D-League
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
15th January, 2015
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1168 Reads
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Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
15th January, 2015
12
1168 Reads

When Dante Exum was drafted at #5 by the Utah Jazz in June, there were so many unknowns about this young kid from Down Under.

International scouts were excited about his size, speed and potential but there were plenty that were sceptical given his lack of experience against top-flight talent.

His experience in the FIBA World Cup for Australia was limited and he played mainly junk time minutes behind Matthew Dellavedova, Ryan Broekhoff and Joe Ingles. Then Summer League came along and his performances failed to impress.

His tournament numbers weren’t great given his starting role, with averages of 7.2 points per game at 30 per cent shooting, 2.8 assists per game and 2.6 rebounds per game.

It was much of the same in the pre-season and it quickly became clear that Exum was going to be a long-term project for the Jazz and not a big time producer from day one.

With almost half the NBA season now complete, we can get a decent feel for Exum’s game and unfortunately the verdict isn’t as good as it could be. His numbers are regressing (apart from his shot attempts) and for a point guard he isn’t making plays with any consistency.

It is such a shame because you can see what he can do, but then he goes back to standing around or making the safe pass.

Some of this can be put down to Quin Snyder’s offensive system, which is extremely pass heavy (the Jazz lead the league is passes per game) but watching Exum play he is very passive and doesn’t look to take the game on when the opportunity presents itself. I have said this a few times in my updates about the Aussies in the league and unfortunately the narrative isn’t changing.

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Below is a video of his first start in early January showing only the possessions he touched.

As you can see there are lots of very safe passes followed by lots of standing around in the corners and plenty of spot up shooting. The first few missed shots can be excused as he was bound to be nervous in his first start but at some point he has to start being a lot more aggressive.

When he did drive it looked promising. Using screens on two occasions he got near the rim and passed to a rolling big who didn’t finish. His quick first step is an asset that either he isn’t using as much as he should or Quin Snyder is telling the guys to keep passing the ball no matter what.

This was one of Exum’s better games, despite shooting 5-14 and not racking up an assist or rebound (also no turnovers) but it was a super safe game where he wasn’t involved a whole lot.

This has become a running theme with Exum over the first half of the season with plenty of games where he fails to imprint any influence on the offensive end.

While I am picking on Dante a bit here, there is a growing case to be made for a stint in the D-League. His game has kind of plateaued with his role reduced to being a spot up shooter and making that first pass from beyond the three point line, which hasn’t yielded results (shooting just 31.8 per cent from deep this season while take nearly 60 per cent of his shots from this range).

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There is no harm in sending him down to the Idaho Stampede (the Jazz affiliated D-League team) to basically be the alpha dog type player running the show. Let him try out new things away from the spotlight without the eyes of the world judging his every move and see what happens.

There is something to be said about being a big fish in a small pond (ask Damien Lillard) and Michael Jordan wasn’t cut from his varsity team, the coach believed he would be better dominating JV and look how that one turned out.

Let’s also not forget that Exum hasn’t exactly played a lot of basketball against top-level talent. He played his high school basketball in Australia, which isn’t on the same par as the US high school system and before that he played a couple of junior FIBA tournaments and the Nike Hoops Summit before declaring for the NBA Draft.

Most talented basketball players Dante’s age are playing college ball right now, making mistakes and figuring out their games for 30-35 minutes a night. The Jazz should seriously consider giving Exum that opportunity in the D-League instead of having him dribble up the ball and then stand in the corner watching others make plays.

It has been acknowledged that at some point the Jazz want Exum to be their future starting point guard but in order to prove they don’t need Trey Burke he needs to develop both his play making and creating his own shot (he shoots just 15 per cent on pull up jump shots).

This is a point guard-dominant league and the Jazz won’t want to replace Burke with a player who can’t create off the dribble and doesn’t take it to the rack.

I really am rooting for Exum to be a superstar and he has the raw talent to make it in the NBA (watch him drive to the paint and look where his defender is when he gets there).

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If his development on the offensive end doesn’t look like it is heading in the right direction by the middle of February then it might be worth seriously exploring a D League stint.

Dante is still really young by NBA standards and with the Jazz already stating they aren’t in any rush with him, they should be exploring a better way to get his game to the level he is capable of playing at.

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