CHICAGO –– Dante Exum had an unconventional experience NBA journey for someone who was drafted No. 5 overall in the 2014 draft. If you took pins and string to trace his journey on a map, it would look like the most random grouping of cities and countries for vacation or perhaps on the worst days of travel. It’s certainly not the right path for a guy who was one of the most intriguing prospects in his draft class.
“I think everyone, once they get here, has high hopes,” Exum told CBS Sports. “I played 82 [games] my first season, then I didn’t play any games in the second season. So it’s really hard to lower expectations.”
Exum’s career faltered due to injuries, which began with a torn ACL that forced him to miss his entire sophomore season. He showed improvement during his third year, but this progress was quickly undermined by a lost fourth year, where he had to undergo shoulder surgery after TJ Warren fell on him during a preparatory match. Injuries followed him during his next two stops with the Cleveland Cavaliers And Houston Rocketsthe latter for which he never played in a regular season game as he was waived by Houston before the start of the 2021-22 season.
“Everyone wants everything to come right back from an injury,” Exum said. “The ACL was the hardest thing, and learning that it wasn’t going to happen in the first game might not even happen in a year. But it’s just an adjustment that you have to continue to make to get through it. improve, and unfortunately for me, every time. “I found a rhythm, I was coming back down. But it was just about staying the course, and I felt like I belonged here. And obviously injuries and just staying healthy was an issue for a lot of teams when free agency came around.”
After being waived by the Rockets in 2021, Exum found himself without a team, and despite feeling like he belonged in the NBA, the Australian guard found himself playing overseas for FC Barcelona, the powerhouse of the ACB League.
“When I first came to Barcelona, it was always about getting back to the NBA,” Exum said. “If I played well, it was like I deserved to be back, and when I played bad, it was like, oh, I’m not going back.”
For better or worse, Exum put pressure on himself to show the NBA he was ready to compete at that level again. And while there was some interest from NBA teams after that year in Spain where he averaged 7.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 49.4% shooting from the field, he s These were all unsecured contracts. If Exum was to return to the NBA, he wanted to have some financial security. So he went to Serbia to play for Partizan in the ABA League the following year, where he not only put aside the idea of returning to the NBA, but also averaged the best numbers of his professional career.
Exum scored 12.4 points, three assists and 2.5 rebounds on 53.4% from the field and 41.8% from 3-point range. Perhaps more importantly, he played in over 94% of Partizan’s games, demonstrating that he can stay healthy for an entire season.
Durability was always the biggest concern before Exum went overseas, but so was his ability to be a scoring threat. That single season in Serbia was a defining moment in Exum’s career. When you compare his numbers while playing for Partizan to his previous six seasons in the NBA, efficiency is a glaring difference.
Confidence is what Exum credits for his better shooting numbers. After leading Partizan in scoring and helping them win their first ABA League championship since 2013, the NBA came calling again. Several teams contacted the former lottery pick, but he decided to join the Dallas Mavericks on a two-year contract worth $6.15 million, partially guaranteed. The first year gives Exum the security he wanted, and even though the Mavericks took a risk in signing him, this second year serves as a cushion if things don’t work out. But so far, he’s been an ideal role player for Dallas.
|
First six NBA seasons (2014-2021) |
5.7 |
5.1 |
40.7% |
2.2 |
30.5% |
|
Partizan (2022-23) |
12.4 |
6.9 |
53.4% |
2.5 |
41.8% |
|
Dallas Mavericks (2023-24) |
8.3 |
5.8 |
55% |
1.8 |
47.4% |
In 42 games with the Mavericks, Exum is averaging 8.3 points, nearly three assists and 2.6 rebounds while shooting 55 percent from the field and 47.4 percent from deep. Those shooting numbers are low, but he still averaged about five shots per game, but never with this kind of efficiency. Exum fits in well as a third ball handler behind Doncic and Irving, giving Dallas additional size in the backcourt, as well as someone who can defend multiple positions on the other end.
“He got picked in the lottery, got drafted, got hurt and maybe got humiliated,” Kidd said before the Mavericks took the game. Timber wolves in December. “It’s not a blow to play overseas, but I think for him to do that, get his game back, his confidence back and then have the opportunity to start again here – we were never promised being in the NBA. So his His work ethic helped him come back and he’s doing everything we thought he could do, if not more.”
Exum really showed his worth during a run of games in December when Irving was sidelined, pushing the Australian into the starting lineup. In the 12 games that Irving was out, Exum averaged 14.4 points, four assists, three rebounds and shot 63.6 percent from the field and 57.5 percent from deep. He lost more than 20 points three times, and his 26 points against the Lakers as of early December, it was the second-most points he had scored in the NBA.
But just as Exum was starting to get back into his rhythm, another injury occurred. He missed 22 games in January and February with a plantar fascia sprain in his right foot. Then later came bursitis in his right knee, and while Exum says it can be difficult to stay positive when an injury occurs, he was able to have a different perspective on it because of his history.
“It’s tough, you don’t want to look like an injury prone guy, but I think you have to look at my injuries early on, and what they were compared to later, it’s just that someone jumped on me and separated my shoulder,” Exum said. “So, I think it’s a lot of different things. And then you can look at anyone, we play 82 games, you know, night in and night out, so there’s going to be a lot of people that get hurt. is just the nature of the sport. And that’s kind of what I had to understand.”
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Exum didn’t think history was repeating itself when injuries mounted this season, but he is more diligent in his preparation and listens to his body more than he would have earlier in his career. And unlike his previous injuries, Exum was able to come back and still make an impact. Although not the numbers he posted in December, Exum’s defense has been important on a team that has been incredibly porous on that end of the floor this season. In his fifth game after those injuries, Exum dropped 13 points off the bench to help Dallas earn a much-deserved victory over the Miami heat.
In the fourth quarter of this Heat game, it was Exum who led the Mavericks in scoring, first hitting a triple to give the Mavericks the lead with three minutes remaining. He then sank a mid-range jumper to extend Dallas’ lead with 60 seconds remaining. Exum closed out this fourth quarter by draining two high-pressure free throws while the Heat were still knocking on the door. The versatility Exum displayed was reminiscent of what we saw earlier in his career and showed why he was so highly touted entering the draft in the first place.
“When you look at his calmness, he doesn’t panic,” Kidd said after that game. “I thought about the pace in the second time when he came in to be able to help Luka without having to bring the ball up. He also found Luka, got easy shots to Luka and also gave easy shots to his teammates. His pace is something we missed here, and you can see that today.
If Exum stays healthy for the remainder of the regular season, he is on pace to play 56 games, the most since his rookie season. And even though he’s entering his seventh year of playing in the NBA due to injuries, this is actually only his fourth healthy season in the league. Because of this and the fact that he is still only 28 years old, Exum feels like his best years are still ahead of him.
“These are my early years,” Exum said. “So, yeah, that [part of my career] That’s where I feel like I’m going to be the strongest and you know, I can just keep getting better and better from here on out. »
