Utah Jazz: 3 reasons Dante Exum contract is a good one
1. Confidence and growth
It has taken four years, but Dante Exum has developed the confidence required to succeed in the NBA. As discussed earlier, Exum has had to battle back from two major injuries in his four years. The first one was the knee injury, which is always a concern. The second was a freak shoulder injury, which could happen to anyone.
However, despite this, every time Exum has come back from injury he has shown a resilience that is going to help him succeed. In his rookie year, Exum averaged 4.8 points, 2.4 assists, 1.6 rebounds and 0.5 steals in 22.2 minutes per game. He only shot 34.9 percent from the field. This can be expected when 3.2 of your 5.1 shots per game come from beyond the arc.
Fast forward to the 2016-17 season and Exum showed some positive development. He averaged 6.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.3 steals in 18.6 minutes per game. His shooting improved, as Exum took 5.5 shots per game, but only 2.3 of these per game were beyond the arc. This led to a 42.7 percent field goal percentage.
Then last season, despite it only being a 14-game sample size, Exum showed another level again. He averaged 8.1 points, 3.1 assists, 1.9 rebounds and 0.6 steals in 16.8 minutes per game. Exum took 6.2 shots per game, but only 1.3 of them were from beyond the arc.
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He now chooses to take the ball in against the tall timbers in the paint and backs himself to score. The difference was palpable and it gave him more confidence. A full preseason and there is no telling what a healthy Dante Exum can achieve next year for the Utah Jazz. It’s that potential that makes his sizable deal worth the investment.