Utah Jazz: Expect More From Dante Exum In 2015-16

The Utah Jazz selected Dante Exum with the No. 5 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft before Marcus Smart and Elfrid Payton because they saw something in him that no other team saw.

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During his rookie season it was hard to see what the management thought about Exum but soon enough it became more clear as you got to see him play. With the point guards in the NBA growing to become more freakishly athletic by the year it made sense to draft a young 6’6″ guard who could defend them all.

Did the Jazz know that Exum would become an above-average defender? No.

Did they make the right pick by allowing Exum to play in the starting lineup? That’s yet to get seen.

We don’t know how long it will take. How many international players have come into the NBA as immediate impact in the last 20 years?

Dirk Nowitzki, Marc Gasol, Andrea Bargnani, Andrew Bogut and Anthony Bennett all have had their fair share of struggles early in their careers.

How many can you think of that automatically were good when they stepped in the league?

Pau Gasol? Yao Ming? Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.

Regardless of where a person comes from one story will remain true …

… It takes time.

There’s no way around it, in our era we love instant gratification.

However, when it comes to developing a young player that phrase has to get thrown out the window. Everyone develops at a different rate and Exum needs a bit more seasoning to his game.

What we can say is that right now Exum is a polished rookie player.

Because Exum played organized basketball in Australia for such a long time he’s pretty good when it comes to his decision-making on the floor. Exum this past season has only had three games with four or more turnovers and 14 with three or more.

It’s been because Exum understands that when he’s on the court his job is to make sure that Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert need to get the bulk of the touches. Exum’s been doing that part of his job well and that’s why two out of those three (Hayward and Favors) averaged 16 points or more last season.

When the game played we saw Exum slow the basketball down and start the offense in the half court. The Jazz were the slowest team in the league and Exum was one of the reasons for it.

Apr 4, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum (11) dribbles the ball against the Phoenix Suns during the first half at US Airways Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

It’s not a bad pace because it worked in the Jazz favor and it let them stay competitive in games against teams that would have blown them out the water when the game is sped up, like the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers.

Teams that can shoot an opponent out of a game weren’t given the amount of possessions to do it. Speaking about shooting…

Exum will take the next step if…

He develops a steady jump shot.

There’s no way around this. For any point guard in the league, they have to learn how to shoot. For Exum who found out that playing in the Jazz offense that the defense is going to sag off of him and allow him to shoot he needs to make his opponents pay.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s OK to shoot threes when you’re open, but if you’re not a good shooter yet, why come up with an empty possession?

Dante Exum rookie season shot chart 2014-15. /

Exum this past season shot 264 three-pointers at 31 percent. The 31 percent shooting isn’t efficient. It also is terrible when you think about the fact that Exum only got to the free throw line 32 times.

Because Exum is already a developing defensive stud, he’s got to start focusing on how to become an impact player on offense. Outside of his jump shot the biggest aspect of his offseason should be focusing in the weight room. If Exum can gain 10 to 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason he’s going to have the ability to get to the rim more often and finish.

Too many times in his rookie season we saw guards who were shorter than him but yet stronger hold him out of the paint and keep him in front of him. During those moments when Exum did get to the rim it was near impossible to finish unless he shot the floater because he couldn’t handle the body contact.

Next season if Exum wants to take the next leap forward in his game that shouldn’t be a problem.

The Jazz staff does a good job of developing players and Exum is only next in line. Expect more from Exum next season because he’s got the talent to exceed what you think about his game.

Next: Utah Jazz: Why Would The Jazz Change Their Style Of Offense?

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Utah Jazz: Why You Should Expect More From Dante Exum Next Season

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