Realistic Expectations for Dante Exum's Rookie Season with Utah Jazz
If you are a Utah Jazz fan and panicking about Dante Exum, then please stop now.
It's way too early to abort the mission.
There's no doubt about it—Exum is playing at a low level. He's a young kid who was selected with the No. 5 pick in the NBA draft, but doesn't look anything like a top-level draft pick. All signs are pointing to a scary feeling in regard to Exum, however, we have to remember his age, talent level and the amount of time remaining before he'll need to be great.
There's going to be more than enough bumps to go around during his rookie season, but it's all part of the process.
Let's take a look at why the fear of failure is premature, and why he'll end up in a much better position than he's currently at.
Age
Getting drafted into the NBA at 18 years old has to be intimidating. Not only has the body not matured, but that kind of timing means the amount of game experience for someone that age is relatively low.
Sean Deveney of Sportingnews.com interviewed an Eastern Conference scout who was on hand for the FIBA basketball tournament, and asked him about Exum and if he had any doubts about his future. Here's what the scout had to say:
"He’s not ready for the NBA, that is for sure. But a lot of guys are not ready for the NBA and they have got to learn on the fly. He is no different. But he is not going to jump into the league and all of a sudden average 20 points a game. There’s just no way.
He is really, really good in the pick-and-roll. He knows how to take the pick and emerge with his head up and he sees the whole floor. He will get better with his decision-making as time goes on and he gets experience, but that ability to come off the pick like that, you know being able to see and process everything immediately with your head up, that is something you can’t teach.
"
At first glance it looks as though Exum is being talked about as a player who has all the skills necessary to be a great player, but lacks all the experience.
He only turned 19 years old this summer and will be starting his rookie season while most other kids his age will be starting their freshmen year of college. Achieving success at the NBA level is tough to come by period.
It's going to be even harder for Exum during his rookie season, though. He'll be playing against guys who already have the confidence necessary to have big nights, on top of besting him in almost every physical category.
Again, don't freak out, yet.
Exum might not currently be where fans hoped he would, but his age is clearly a reason to hold off most concern over the subject.
He's still only a kid.
Talent
Has Dante Exum been playing bad basketball lately? Absolutely. Has any of it had to do with how talented he is as a player?
Not one bit.
It's strictly a confidence issue. Averaging 7.2 points, 2.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 26.6 minutes per game during the Las Vegas NBA summer league was a mediocre showing at best. His mentality clearly altered his entire game as he only shot the ball 7.8 times in each contest.
If that wasn't bad enough, playing for Australia during FIBA basketball decided to roll around.
Granted his role was lessened as a way of taking some pressure off the young man, Exum still managed to lower his numbers to 2.7 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists. There's no reason why he couldn't average point totals in the teens if we were going strictly based off a bigger role, his athleticism and talent, however, that's not how the game is played. Being confident that you're able to dominate your competition is just as important as being good enough to actually do it.
Having the correct mentality to become an elite player is significantly easier to teach than the talent associated with being a special member in the game of basketball.
Exum has all the skills in the world, which puts us far from panic time.
Time
Being patient is one of the hardest things for any fan to do. It's so difficult because wanting instant success is a natural feeling.
Still though, Utah will have every opportunity to grow as both individuals and a team. The Jazz have the NBA's youngest team with an average age of 23.5. This will only lead toward improvement and a better sense of team unity.
Exum will be one of the driving factors in this process.
Being worried about how he's currently playing makes a lot of sense. He's performed incredibly poorly for someone touted as a potential No. 1 pick, and he doesn't look like he'll have too much of an impact on the 2014-15 season.
Whether that's true or not doesn't matter, though. It's all about if he'll be able to get to where his potential suggests he could reach.
Society still seems to be working on time travel and developing a fast-forward button, so it's up to us to wait and see how it all plays out.
Exum is young and has more than enough talent to turn into an All Star-caliber player capable of being one of Utah's leaders.
It just won't take place during his rookie season.
Exum doesn't have the confidence or physique to be a top performer on a nightly basis. He'll have to take his bruises along with most other rookies. It's going to be a cause for concern as his improvements will come at a slow rate, but he's good enough to make people laugh for ever doubting him.
If he's able to correctly develop during what seems like a lifetime of an NBA career ahead of him, then he'll likely turn into exactly who fans hoped the Jazz drafted.
Something that would be great to see.
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