No. 5 Draft Pick: Dante Exum
Position: Guard
Team(s): Utah Jazz
First Take: He may be the surprise winner for the 2014 NBA Rookie of the Year as Dante Exum is one of the most efficiently skilled players out of this year's draft class. Standing at 6'6" and weighing 195 lbs., Exum's highlights show us all what dazzling skills he had to offer for the NBA. Like many, I had never heard nor seen this kid play once last year. So why is it he wasn't talked about? Well its probably because he isn't a U.S. native. He's actually Australian; or rather he was born in Australia to American parents. Regardless, the kid from down under is the one of just 17 Australians to have played in the NBA and one of seven to be playing currently in the NBA (others include Cameron Bairstow, Aron Baynes, Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova, Joe Ingles, and Patty Mills). For Dante Exum, much of his time was spent entirely focused on basketball while playing for the Australian Institute of Sport. He also competed in the 2013 Nike Hoops Summit on the World Select Squad with Andrew Wiggins, where he scored 16 points, grabbed three rebounds, and had two assists in a 112-98 victory over the USA Junior Select Team that included Aaron Gordon, Jabari Parker, and Julius Randle. That same year, he also competed for Australia's under-19 world team in the 2013 Under-19 World Championships, where in averaged 18.2 points/game, 3.6 rebounds/game, 3.8 assists/game, and 1.7 steals/game over the course of nine games in the tournament, which lead to him being named to the All-Tournament team. Also, he has to get props because technically, he's the most current (and probably last) player to actually have come into the NBA out of high school and having a father, Cecil Exum, who played on the 1982 North Carolina basketball team that consisted of Michael Jordan, James Worthy, and Sam Perkins and won a NCAA championship So all that aside, Dante Exum's biggest plus sides coming out of the draft was a seemingly solid overall game. His top quality, by far, was how he could drive the basket with such speed and strength, and then be able to finish strong somehow. He also has some of the most incredible ball handling skills I have seem in a long time. His hands move and follow the ball so fast that helps him and allows him to make his moves with quickness and agility. Plus, his 6'6" size allows him to be versatile at both guard positions and possibly even small forward. In fact, some experts feel that he has skills next to that of Russell Westbrook, which is always nice to hear I'm sure.
NBA: Once the 2014 NBA Draft was on fast approach, many NBA analysts and basketball enthusiasts were starting to talk about this 19year old kid from Melbourne, Australia. From the way they talked and watching his highlights myself, I had to agree that he had the potential to possibly become the No. 1 overall pick if a team that needed a guard was there. So once the lottery came and Cleveland (once again!) got the pick, I knew he would not go at No. 1, but would probably not fall any lower than No. 10 at the most. Exum eventually drafted by the Utah Jazz at No. 5, who hadn't had a guard with his talents since drafting Deron Williams out of Illinois.
It has been some time since the Utah Jazz have seen those shimmering days of glory and star power. Those days were back in the 1990s, when the Jazz had Karl Malone powering it down in the post, Jeff Hornacek would hit every jump shot he took and make it look so simple, and John Stockton dazzled everyone on the court and in the Delta Center with his ability to get the pass to the open man. Dante Exum's current roster is not loaded like that at all, but the Jazz do have talent surrounding him in star forward Gordon Hayward, forward Derrick Favors, center Enes Cantor, point guards Trey Burke and Alec Burks, fellow rookie shooting guard Rodney Hood, 7'2" sky-scraping center Rudy Gobert, and also includes fellow Australian Joe Ingles (not impacting, but worth a mention).
A fourth of the way through the season, Utah is just 5-15 in the first 20 games of the season. For Dante Exum, he's been lucky to have played in all 20 games this season, but he's not a starter. So far, Exum's done nothing but bench work as his stats show (Seen Below) due mostly to the fact that Utah is pretty set with Alec Burks performance so far and also has his time split up with fellow rookie guard Rodney Hood. Surely, I thought Exum would be one of the starting guards on the court this season, but with first rounders Trey Burke stopping up, Alec Burks starting his rise to fame, and Rodney Hood riding in the rookie car next to him, it seems like it will be a difficult climb for Exum to get into the starting lineup for a while. Hopefully, he'll starting to get more use of the time he is given and prove he deserves more minutes in order to show the Jazz why he is the No. 5 pick or else be at risk of being traded to another team. Of course, that could be what Utah fears may happen to Burks, seeing as some teams do not have that balanced guard with size and speed to help bolster offense and defense.
Dante Exum's Current Stats: 20 Games Played
Minutes/Game- 18.0
Points/Game- 4.5
Rebounds/Game- 1.5
Assists/Game- 2.1
Blocks/Game- 0.3
Steals/game- 0.4
Turnovers/Game- 1.0
Field Goal %- .365
3 Point %- .298
Free Throw %- .591
No. 6 Draft Pick: Marcus Smart
Position: Guard
Team(s): Boston Celtics
First Take: He is looked at in two different types of lights: the superstar guard from Oklahoma State and the guy with some serious temper issues. Either way, Marcus Smart is quite a nice combination of all-around talent from this year's draft class. The moment I saw Marcus Smart was in a game where Smart had dropped 39 points on the then #11 Memphis Tigers. I kid you not, it was one the greatest performances all season. I saw him just shredding and tearing apart defenders, hitting the jumper all over the court, and playing such strong perimeter defense, which lead me to think that this may be the guy that ultimately goes No. 1 overall in the draft. From the moment his feet touched the court for the Cowboys, he seemed to be poised for a great NBA career. Although I did not see him till his sophomore year, Smart helped his Oklahoma State team to 24-8 record while averaging about 15.5 points/game, 5.8 rebounds/game, and 4.2 assists/game and putting them just under the Big 12's powerhouses Kansas and Kansas State. Marcus Smart was also able to record 99 steals in the season, which averaged out to 3.0 steals/game. Honestly, that an insane talent to have in being able to take the ball away from your opponent. That year, the Cowboys earned the #5 seed in the Midwest Regional of the 2013 NCAA Tournament, but were unable to pass the first round against the #12 Oregon Ducks. After returning for his sophomore season, Marcus Smart started off in dominating fashion with that 39 point game I mentioned against Memphis. However, Smart then began to show the side of him that many have come to recognize him for most. The incident that is most known of his was when Oklahoma State was playing against Texas Tech and Smart flew into fans that had floor seats in order to save the ball. After which, Smart got up and seemed to had words with a Texas Tech fan named Travis Ford. Supposedly, Ford had called Smart a racial slur of some kind, which then lead to Marcus shoving the fan and giving a few words back at him (whatever they may have been). Evidently, this caused Smart to be hit with a technical foul and eventually lead to OSU suspending him for the next three games. Despite the controversy, he was named as a finalists for 2013-14 College Player of the Year and helped the Cowboys to 21-13 record while averaging 18.0 points/game, 5.9 rebounds/game, and 5.8 assists/game along with 2.9 steals/game. He helped OSU receive the #9 seed in the West Regional of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, but once again lost in the first round to #8 Gonzaga Bulldogs while being the first player in tourney history to score 20 points, grab 10 rebounds, have 5 assists, and take away 5 steals.
NBA: From the very beginning of the season and all the way up until the incident with Texas Tech, there were some that were feeling Marcus Smart may be college basketball's best athlete and should be considered as the No. 1 overall pick. But everyone knows that if you mess up in any way nowadays and the media catch a whiff of it, you are pretty much in for a hell of a ride. After the incident, Smart's production began to fall which lead to frustration and the occasional outbursts that made some think that he may not be mentally prepared and mature enough to happen the pro game. In the 2014 NBA Draft, Marcus Smart went No. 6 to the Boston Celtics who were in a period of rebuilding after losing Doc Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers and Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets. As for how he would contribute, there were those that said that he would be the most talented guy coming off the bench, while others (and it was only a few) said that Smart could be the next Ray Allen for Boston (Seriously, I saw a few that made those comments).
The Boston Celtics have had some serious changes in the organization since they last won a championship back in 2008. The team lost their head coach Doc Rivers to the L.A. Clippers, Ray Allen to the Miami Heat, and center Kevin Garnett and forward Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets. The organization then went out and signed their new head coach from Butler University named Brad Stevens in 2013 and just recently traded point guard Rajon Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks. The trade now pushes Smart to have a larger role on the team with a nice collection of young players with potential like as forward Jeff Green, forward Jared Sullinger, guard Avery Bradley, center Kelly Olynyk, guard Evan Turner, guard Marcus Thornton, and center Tyler Zeller.
Marcus Smart's Current Stats: 11 Games Played
Minutes/Game- 17.4
Points/Game- 6.1
Rebounds/Game- 2.0
Assists/Game- 1.7
Blocks/Game- 0.2
Steals/game- 0.9
Turnovers/Game- 0.9
Field Goal %- .349
3 Point %- .293
Free Throw %- 1.000
{More rookies will be coming soon over my next posts}
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