Does the finesse part exclude his shot? Do you mean more speed and fluidity in his game?

I think what he means is that Dante is very marketable both on and off the court.

What I'm trying to understand is how Dante has managed to be taken No.5 in a stacked draft despite scarcely playing, he's now managed to turn a disappointing Summer League debut into salivating Jazz fans overnight with a handful of great plays.

I'm unable to pinpoint exactly what it is that he does so well but he seems to have the NBA mesmerized, maybe rightly so, dunno?

well there are tonnes of players out there with different aspects to their game. some dont have any standout ones. others have a standout attribute or two. the very elites have multiple attributes (ie durant/lebron/melo)

it was apparent at fiba and hoop summit that dante has a first step and the handle to make the most of that. the fact defenders so far havent been able to stay in front of him shows dante to have a very very valuable asset already.

also his court vision and passing and length on defense are two other valuable assets.

these already make him a somewhat valuable commodity in the nba.

the real question is can he develop other assets like a mid-range or 3 point shot? also if he can work on his ability to finish at the rim through contact will also make him more valuable. developing his core strength to maximise his ability to defend.

he already has a couple of real weapons. no doubt he already has a place in the nba on those alone. whether that place is decent starter , role player, franchise star , or league star are up to how he develops.

the noteworthy thing is that all of these things are with in his reach imo.

Our Game, raw potential, size for his position, speed despite his size and I imagine coachability is a major thing. A rebuilding team can afford to grab him a year ahead of time and build him up.

He gets that Kobe comparison but after watching his Summer League highlights video from that first game, I can see why. There's just something I can't pick that reminded me of early Kobe videos. Kobe's first year he averaged 8 PPG. Second year was just the one start but 15 PPG. And he never topped 40% 3P in his career.

Keen to see Exum's next game.

Exum's display at the U19 world champs is what got the NBA's attention. I would hardly call his first summer league game disappointing. He made some great plays and would've had a few more assists had his teammates knocked down more of the wide open looks his drive and kick game created. His quickness and ability to beat his man off the dribble were evident as well.

Yes, he has some holes in his game but what what 19yo doesn't? Teams are drafting potential from pick 1 to pick 60 don't forget, there's no promise how a player will turn out but Dante Exum oozes potential.

Why is everyone so concerned about his 3pt shooting, d-wade has never been able to shoot the 3 ball well and he's had a pretty successful career

"I'm unable to pinpoint exactly what it is that he does so well but he seems to have the NBA mesmerized, maybe rightly so, dunno?"

Write down a list of 6 foot 6 inch point guards.

The kid's an 82 game mismatch in a league dominated by match-ups. Size at the point is a huge advantage. He'll be able to see opportunities and make passes that just aren't there for smaller players.

Also that first step is blindingly quick. If teams can't keep him out of the lane then he's going to be a wrecking ball to opposition defenses. The scary thing is that it looks as though he already has the vision and passing ability to capitalise on it.

That's what the scouts have been salivating about, and why some believe he's the prospect with the highest potential in the draft.

"The kid's an 82 game mismatch"

Perhaps replace "an" with "a potential" in the above sentence. Haha :P

He has a mismatch advantage at PG.

Something tells me he will play a lot of SG and match up on and be matched up on by SGs (which will take away that mismatch advantage).


The Jazz will bring across Raul Neto from overseas. That will give them Burke, Lucas and Neto.

Exum will start at 2 most likely.

But also, Burks really developed last season. He doubled his ppg average.
Averaged 14ppg and looked pretty good.

So I think there might even be times where they go with Exum at the 3 spot! He has freakish long arms which will allow him to play bigger. Plus with guys like Gobert and Kanter inside you can afford to go a bit smaller at the guard positions.

a lot depends on how he develops his shot.

some teams have exceptional defenders and they will push up on him when he doesnt have the ball and hold him and sag off him when he does have the ball to try to take away his ability to blow by them.

if he develops a decent shot they will have to hedge their bets on what they want to give him.

A few seem to think he'll playing PG on offence and then defend the opposition SG where his length will mean that he can hold his own.

Draft Blockbuster 2014

Thanks to all who have contributed, great observations despite seeing so little of his play to this point.

World Chams will no doubt reveal how much of this potential is currently at his disposal.

"Typical Aussie fans putting their own players down. Probably the same kind who think the Boomers team should be made up jump shooting NBL players!"

Strange thing to post in a thread about how/why Dante is such a great prospect.

I think the reference to a disappointing first game confused the Jazz open training for the summer league debut?

Should clarify, I wasn't disappointed with reports from his Jazz open training or his 1st Summer League game production, (I had few expectations for Dante as I hadn't seen him play since his last boomers stint) that's why i was keen to hear thoughts from anyone who knew more on how he's developed.

It was Jazz fan's who wanted instant bang in return for their 5th pick in the 1st Summer League game & expressed skeptical feedback and some negative reactions to his earlier Jazz open training.

Regardless they were eating their words a day later when he had all his weapons on display in SL game 2.

The point of the discussion now is if Dante as actually as good as he looks when he's deploying those weapons, or is the attractiveness of his Kobe like execution inflating his actual ability.

Does his substance match his style? to be clear I suspect it does.