Dante Exum: Utah Jazz Rookie Report

With the advent of the no hand-check rule and the abandonment of illegal defenses during the mid-2000s, the NBA as we knew it has undergone a major facelift.

Over the past decade, defensive strategies have evolved. Most notably, teams of the modern era tirelessly aim to pack the paint to effectively capitalize on the bestowment of temporary zones, and every defensive scheme aspires to overload the strong side in an effort to strangle wing isolations, post-ups, and simple pick-and-rolls (PNRs).

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Consequently, the need for dribble penetration — with the end goal of sucking in the defense in order to swing the ball from side to side, and cause the opposing hybrid man/zone defense to scramble out of position — is more prevalent than ever.

For this reason, long athletic guards that can make defenses bend has become the hottest commodity in basketball. In particular, cat-quick penetrators who can attack the teeth of the strongside defense with the intention to pass — ala John Wall, the premier cross-court deliverer this side of LeBron James — has emerged into the 80s/90s equivalent of the low block post-up, a.k.a. the main driver to modern day offenses.

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Accordingly, it is easy to see why Dante Exum was so highly sought after despite the limited amount of material game film available on the Australian teenager going into the 2014 NBA Draft.

Billed as a 6-foot-6 point guard, Exum would explode onto the NBA scene at the 2013 Nike Hoop Summit. During the game, the willowy guard would dazzle the capacity crowd at the Rose Garden (now known as the Moda Center), showcasing his electric first step and vivacious finishing ability.

Stealing the show from the event’s headliners, in Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, Exum even drew comparisons to a “baby” Michael Jordan — courtesy of ESPN College Basketball Analyst and resident international scouting expert, Fran Fraschilla — after making a breathtaking and-one layup in the open court (see the 3:17 mark in video below).

From that point on, Exum would be penciled in as a surefire top-5 pick on every mock draft.

He would follow his breakout performance up with a string of impressive outings at the FIBA U19 tournament during the summer of 2013. Representing his native country, Exum would average 18.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game over a nine-game stretch, leading Australia to a fourth place finish.

More importantly, he was able raise his draft stock to unforeseen heights, thanks in large part to his scintillating outbursts throughout the tournament; notably, his 33-point, five-rebound, four-assist, and three-steal performance in a win against Spain, and equally as impressive, a 28-point, five-rebound and five-assist outing in the Bronze medal game, which resulted in a defeat, against Lithuania.

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Accordingly, with his draft status an all-time high, Exum would ultimately play out his senior year of high school basketball in Australia and forgo the opportunity to enroll in an NCAA program last winter upon his graduation in December.

Instead, he spent the next six months training at the Australia Institute of Sport and in Los Angeles, subsequently thereafter, under the watchful eye of his agent, Rob Pelinka — the same agent as legendary Los Angeles Lakers guard, Kobe Bryant — in preparation for the 2014 NBA Draft.

All of a sudden, Exum gradually became the “mystery prospect.”

Specifically, while the other highly touted phenoms of the 2014 NBA Draft — namely, Wiggins, Parker, and Julius Randle — were being evaluated, over-analyzed, and scrutinized under the national spotlight, Exum was carefully hidden from the public.

And for a while, the other top prospects’ magnified weaknesses became Dante’s perceived strengths — Oh, Exum has a functional handle, unlike Wiggins. Oh, Exum doesn’t settle for contested jumpers, unlike Parker. Oh, Exum has elite size for his position, unlike Randle.

Aside from his on-court exploits, Exum has also proven to be inherently marketable off the court. Equipped with a distinct name, charming accent, and boyish good looks — in conjunction to being incredibly well-spoken for a teenager — Exum had already received boatloads of endorsement deals months prior to the draft.

As such, not only did Exum evolved into the international man of mystery, he congruently emerged as the draft’s most amiable prospect.

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To the surprise of many, however, Exum would fall out of the top-four on draft night and would eventually be selected with the fifth pick overall by the Utah Jazz.

As the 2014 Summer League approached, the entire NBA universe awaited anxiously to get their first real glimpse at the boy wonder from the land down under. And at first, he didn’t disappoint, enamoring the thousands in attendance and the millions watching around the world with his blinding right to left crossover and otherworldly court vision.

However, with the passing of every game, his throngs of flaws began to surface. Teams started to expose Exum — most glaringly, for his inability to create his own shot, his loose handle, and his appalling lack of stamina.

His poor play would carry over to the 2014 World Cup while representing Australia on their Senior National Team. Chiefly, his passiveness and propensity to panic under ball pressure prevented him from receiving significant playing time.

Thus, in a two month span, Exum seemingly went from a “can’t miss” prospect to a two-year project.

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By the time the 2014-15 NBA season finally commenced, the hype surrounding Exum had completely died down. Outside of his immediate family and diehard fans, his expectations had tempered to a point where any signs of tangible contributions would be a bonus for the Jazz this season.

Exum, however — to the pleasant surprise of many — quickly earned a spot in head coach Quinn Snyder’s rotation from the onset — driven a large part by his proficiency as a three-point shooter and staggering brand of perimeter defense.

Billed as an ultra-explosive, relentless rim attacking guard who couldn’t shoot, Exum has been anything but, thus far.

Most notably, over 61.8 percent of his field goal attempts are from beyond the arc, where he converts such attempts at a better than expected 30.6 percent rate, per Basketball-Reference.

More interestingly, 34.0 percent of his three-point attempts derive from the corners, where his conversion rate in such instances rises to 32.6 percent.

Accordingly, most of his offense come from the dribble penetration and play making of his teammates. In fact, approximately 75.0 percent of his field goals have been assisted on this season, per NBA.com.

While his rate of conversion from three is below the league average of 34.9 percent, he has already established himself as a spot up threat; thereby, allowing Exum to stay on the court as defenses can’t sag off of him to load up on Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors — the Jazz’s current pair of franchise pillars. Take, for example, the following play:

Exum Effect /

As Hayward operates out of the spread pick-and-roll, Exum assumes his role as a floor spacer — a role he’s been familiar with this season — situated at the strongside corner.

Exum Effect 2 /

As you can see, the threat of Exum as a standstill shooter causes his defender, Allen Crabbe, to stunt but not fully commit on his collapse as Hayward turns the corner.

Exum Effect 3 /

Consequently, Hayward takes advantage of the free lane presented to him — unfortunately for Joel Freeland, who receives a face full of you know what — and adds to his collage of posterizing dunks.

Defensively, Dante is an absolute stud. At 6-foot-6 in shoes, a 6-foot-9 wingspan, and exceptional lateral quicks, Exum is already a devastating on ball defender, especially when assigned with the task of stifling opposing point guards.

Although, while defending the primary ball handler he’s not as tenacious and burdening as fellow rookie guards, Elfrid Payton and Marcus Smart, Exum leverages his length effectively to hamper aspiring forays towards the rim while challenging his fair share of pull-up attempts. In fact, he’s already had a handful of on ball blocks this season.

His poor core strength, however, prevents him from being a competent pick-and-roll defender — but not for a lack of effort.

In particular, Exum often scrambles to fight over opposing picks, despite being caught many times, to recover in a timely manner. But with the Jazz’s current defensive scheme, which asks their bigs to zone up and corral opposing ball handlers while their guards force their man towards the sideline, the margin for error is miniscule and being a second late on recoveries can result in an open attempt from 10-14 feet as opposed to a low percentage shot from 14-29 feet.

His help defense is encouraging as well. Exum is most often times in the right place; crowding the boxes and elbows as a strongside helper, bumping diving bigs/stunting at the pick-and-pop on the weakside, while running opposing shooters off of the 3-point line.

As with all rookies, he does get caught ball watching from time to time and is usually out of control on his closeouts.

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His most noticeable impediment thus far, though, is undoubtedly his passiveness. When watching Exum, one word immediately comes to mind, and that word is timid — which is quite ironic considering Exum’s predraft reputation as a slasher and finisher.

But if you have time, go and watch his highlights, or better yet, a full game of his during the 2013 U-19 World Championships and you will see a completely different player.

In particular, Exum was confident and aggressive; eternally seeking driving lanes, sought contact, and a fearless finisher.

Fast forward to present day, and he almost refuses to drive, even when an open lane is blatantly presented. And on the rare occasion when Exum does take it to the hole, he’ll quickly make a pocket pass to rolling big, in spite of the scoring opportunity. For example:

Exum Drive 1 /

Exum makes the initial read and recognizes the Portland Trail Blazers’ attempt to ice the side PNR.

Exum Drive 2 /

He then makes a swift right-to-left crossover leaving Damian Lillard in the dust. With a full head of steam, a driving lane appears with only LaMarcus Aldridge — who is conceding the baseline — to beat.

Exum Drive 3 /

Instead, Exum opts to wheel back towards the middle, drawing the defense in, before kicking it back out to a trailing Favors — which is a solid conservative play. But he could’ve easily had a layup or drawn a foul on Portland’s (arguably) best player.

When all of his passing options are tightly defended, and Exum is subsequently forced to score, he usually throws up a soft awkward looking floater or high arcing below the hip scoop shot — showing no signs of the acrobatics he showcased consistently as an amateur; save for an and-1 layup he made against the Los Angeles Clippers during the preseason.

Maybe it’s a lack of confidence, or mistrust in his handle that has caused his sudden change in approach.

Specifically, his handle is extremely loose, especially for a point guard, and he refuses to dribble with his left even when the defender is shading him to his weakside.

For that reason, Exum usually panics when ball pressure is applied, usually resorting to turning his body between the man and the ball — much like another rookie counterpart, Zach LaVine (see his rookie report here) — thereby, limiting his vision and scoring options to only one side of the floor.

Skill wise, Exum is probably more suited for the two at the moment, but his feel, mentality, and passing screams one. More specifically, Exum is already a terrific passer off of dribble drives, delivering breathtaking lobs to Rudy Gobert, making the correct pocket pass to a flaring Favors, and/or whipping a cross court pass to fellow countryman, Joe Ingles, in the opposite corner.

Much like another rookie point, Elfrid Payton, Exum is a natural distributor, possessing an innate knack for curating the appropriate angles — whether taking an extra dribble, manipulating the defense with ball fakes, or using the baseline — to whip a pinpoint pass to a teammate’s shooting pocket.

Overall, coach Snyder has done a terrific job of bringing Exum along, not overwhelming him with responsibilities he can’t handle and putting him in the best position to succeed.

Particularly, he recently inserted the young 19-year-old into the starting lineup, a prudent move by all accounts considering Exum’s set of NBA-ready skills. As such, his primary ball handling responsibilities has diminished playing alongside two point forwards, essentially, in Hayward and Joe Ingles, thus freeing Exum to build on his confidence by doing what he does best at present — which is point guard defense, spot up shooting, and distributing out of the flow of the offense.

While his conditioning is still concerning — which is surprising for a skinny 19-year old guard, but does make some sense considering he had not played competitive basketball for nearly eight months last year — if young Dante can continue to make strides as a ball handler and strengthen his core over the upcoming offseason, Exum still has the potential to be a top-tier two way point guard three years down the line.

The key for Exum is to ultimately recapture his courage and unleash his aggressiveness.

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