For most of the season the 2014-15 NBA Draft class has underwhelmed.
It’s not because of the basketball skill of each respective rookie, it’s mainly because of the injuries that a lot of rookies have suffered. With the injuries to Jabari Parker (No. 2), and Joel Embiid (No. 3), there are only three active players from the top five of the 2014 NBA Draft.
One of them is the Minnesota Timberwolves small forward, Andrew Wiggins (No.1) and the other is the Utah Jazz point guard, Dante Exum (No. 5).
With Wiggins on a complete tear averaging around 21 points per game in the month of January, the Jazz have needed to see what they have in their developmental project, Exum.
We’re only at the midway point of Exum’s career and it’s looking like he’s reached a new plateau in his game.
When the Utah Jazz played against the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 21, Jazz head coach Quin Snyder decided to make a change within the starting lineup.
So for the first time in his career Exum got to walk to the scorer’s table when the game tipped off, instead of wearing his warmup gear because he’d embarked in new territory getting the starting spot over, Trey Burke.
Even though we’re only in the middle of Exum’s career, we have to ask, is Snyder’s brilliant move putting Exum in the starting lineup going to help him get more aggressive offensively?
Can Exum, like Wiggins, have a great month and start scoring at a higher rate?
#DanteKorver?
When Exum played against the Milwaukee Bucks it was clear that he was looking for his shot. He came aggressive and it was interesting to see because before this game the only time Exum attempted double-digit shots occurred when he played the Indiana Pacers and took 14 shots in the game.
Keep in mind that out of the 14 shots he took, nine of them were three-point field goal attempts. On the night Exum went 3-for-9 from the three-point line against the Pacers.
On the bright side when Exum played against the Bucks he kept firing away from the three-point line and he attempted 10. Thankfully, because the defense was sagging off of him and allowing him to shoot, he made them pay, making half of his shots, going 5-for-10 from the three-point line.
Even though Exum made half of his three-pointers against the Bucks, he shouldn’t have a reason to play the game as a stand still shooter when the basketball isn’t in his hands. At the end of the day he’s not Kyle Korver and he should never have a reason to shoot more than five three-pointers in a single game.
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Shooting is the weakest part in his game and the defense would rather have him attempting shots away from the rim. It makes sense because on the year Exum is shooting 37 percent from the floor, 31 percent from the three-point line, and 62 percent from the free throw line.
However because the defense knows that he can’t shoot well there’s more than he can do to play more aggressive.
Mixing It Up a Bit
One of the reasons why Exum will never be Kyle Korver isn’t because he won’t have the shooting ability that Korver possess, it’s because he has the perfect combination of size and quickness to become a great and effective scorer, instead of being utilized primarily as a shooter.
Instead what Exum needs to start doing is making the small plays on the basketball court that will turn him into a great scorer.
During the times when Exum checks into the game, and Gordon Hayward is in the lineup, Hayward normally gets used as the primary ball handler. However that aspect is fine because Exum should use his size and quickness to score around the rim.
For example, when Exum played against the New Orleans Pelicans, he moved around the court instead of spotting up and because of his off the ball movement he was often the recipient of beautiful passes that resulted in dunks at the rim and easy finishes in the lane.
As Exum started getting his inside game rolling, the game started getting easier for him and people could tell. Exum started getting the confidence to even take a former All-Star point guard in Jrue Holiday off of the dribble, and used his quickness and size to get past him and finish with contact at the rim.
His final stat line vs. the Pelicans: 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting, 1-for-2 from the three-point line, 1-for-1 from the free-throw line, two rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in 21 minutes.
In that small sample size of time we got to see Exum score a lot of points and do it without requiring many shots. To think that now that Exum’s in the starting lineup he’s going to have the basketball in his hands a lot, so he’ll have more of an opportunity to produce stat lines like this.
Additionally, another way that Exum can become more aggressive is when he starts to use the pick and roll more. One of the reasons why a lot of times Exum has been effective in games is due to the fact that he often makes good decisions when he uses the pick and roll.
When he’s using the pick and roll Exum finds players who roll to the rim, and he rewards them for setting a great screen.
Rudy Gobert calls for the lob and Dante Exum delivers one for the Jazz!#NBA#JAZZ https://t.co/39fkp3ZKdb
— HOOPSDRONE (@hoopsdrone) October 30, 2014
Where he can become more aggressive is using the pick and roll into an offensive weapon of his own.
The times when the defense starts to play the pass and put more pressure on the roll man, or even when the defense goes over the screen to play the jump shot, those are the moments when he should turn the corner and get into the lane.
Though Exum is lacking the strength needed to completely dunk in the half court right now, or have the repetitions to consistently make the floater to shoot over bigs, he can still get inside of the paint. When Exum gets into the lane he’s shooting a wonderful 66 percent at the rim.
The One Twice Over (#11), The New Permanent Starter?
The decision coach Snyder made was a great one because Exum was forced to play aggressively in the starting lineup. The move needed to happen in order to light a fuse under the team and it gave Exum an even bigger wake up call to the NBA.
Instead of coming into games timid and shy, coach Snyder recognized that now is the time that Exum should attack the basketball and if mistakes are made, then learn from it.
In an interview with Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune, Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said this about Exum:
“You’re 19. You’re in the NBA. That’s kind of like, ‘Wow. Let me take advantage of this…He’s got to play like that — like this is an experience going to get all of it, even if it’s going to be for 15 years. The first year is a year. In Year 15, you’ll look back and say, ‘I wish I had it….I want Dante to play like he doesn’t have all those years in front of him.”
After making the move to put Exum into the starting lineup and getting 15 points, and five assists from his rookie point guard, and more importantly a good 101-99 road win against a Bucks team who’s in the middle of the playoff hunt, it might be difficult for coach Snyder to insert Burke back into the starting position.
Also the move makes a lot more sense because of the way it helps the Jazz defensively. In a league full of monster point guards in Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry and John Wall, it makes more sense to have an athletic 6’6″ point guard in the backcourt.
Simply put, the potential is there and even Exum’s peers are beginning to notice.
In an interview with Josh Martin, the Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said this:
“I think he has a chance to be great, I really do. … His length, he’s smart, he’s young, he’s athletic, he can play 1 and 2. I think that’s a heck of a pick for them.”
For the Jazz organization they are hoping that Rivers is correct.
The fact that they selected Exum in a draft that featured players such as Elfrid Payton, Zach LaVine, Marcus Smart and Julius Randle, all who were drafted after Exum, is a tough sell to a fan base that wants to move into the right direction.
Hopefully this move happened because it was the right decision.
Next: NBA Awards Watch: Watch Out A. Wiggins, Because Here Comes Elfrid Payton