- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
A day after Dante Exum silenced his critics with a blistering NBA performance, star player Damian Lillard has described the Aussie teenager’s future as “bright”.
Exum was ranked earlier this week as the worst starting point guard in the NBA by US sports giant ESPN, thanks to an underwhelming rookie season with Utah Jazz.
But he responded in spectacular fashion on Wednesday night, tallying a career-best assist total to help the Jazz see off the Denver Nuggets 98-84.
Exum made 12 assists for Utah on Wednesday – the most by any player in the team this season – along with a rebound and two points.
It was a coup for the 19-year-old, who had zero assists to his name in the past three games and has averaged just 2.3 for the season.
Despite the tepid statistics, Portland Trail Blazers point guard Lillard said he can see the teenager’s potential.
“I’ve watched Dante play, he’s really young but he has really good size and good length and athleticism as a point guard,” Lillard told NBA Australia.
“It’s going to take some time, he went from playing against younger kids to playing against the best players in the world in the NBA so it will take time to develop.”
“The future is bright for him.”
It’s been a rollercoaster year for Exum after Utah selected him straight out of high school in Canberra with the fifth pick of the NBA Draft.
While most rookies have spent the year on the bench, Jazz coach Quin Snyder gave the guard a baptism of fire.
“I had a good talk with coach yesterday and we’ve got a better understanding with each other and I’m building better relationships with my teammates every day,” Exum said after Wednesday’s breakout performance.
Snyder said he’d seen “flashes” of Exum’s fine form before, but he’d been waiting for more.
“It was appropriate it happened tonight,” said Snyder.
“Tonight the game slowed down a little bit for him and it was really good to see.”
Build your own ultimate team! Pick your key players and take a shot at big cash prizes every day with Draftstars. For great odds on NBA games every day head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.