3 Cleveland Cavaliers questions following Jordan Clarkson trade

1. How does Exum fit?

There is no way around it, Dante Exum will not be a replacement for Jordan Clarkson. But maybe this isn’t a totally bad thing.

Through five NBA seasons, Exum hasn’t shown much ability to score. He is a career 5.7 points per game scorer and has never shot above 33 percent from the 3-point line in a season.

Even worse, Exum is extremely injury prone. After playing all 82 games as a rookie, Exum has missed 224 games in his career and has appeared in just 67 games over the three seasons, including playing in 11 of Utah’s 29 games prior to the trade.

Still, the potential is there for this 24-year-old former lottery pick. He has great size and is a skilled defender. It’s likely Exum will become the best perimeter defender the Cavaliers have to offer.

He also may be the best playmaker on the team. Averaging just 15.8 minutes last season, Exum dished out 2.6 assists per game. For reference, Darius Garland leads the Cavaliers in assists with 3.1 per game in nearly 30 minutes of playing time.

So, Exum is already one of the best playmakers and best defenders on the team. However, his health and lack of production on offense will hold him back from playing a major role. We will likely see Exum play with the second unit as he gets his career back on track.

In the future, we may see Exum earn a role as the sixth man or potentially a starter next to Darius Garland. For now, he needs to prove he can remain healthy and work on maximizing his playmaking ability.