Dante Exum to play on Utah Jazz Summer League team
By Bryan Rose
When Dante Exum decided to declare for the NBA Draft it was said he was only willing to play for two NBA franchises – the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. Such an idea was mildly conceivable considering the Celtics and Lakers held the No. 6 and No. 7 picks respectively.
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Of course, that sentiment was prior to Joel Embiid suffering a foot injury and Exum’s strong workouts elevating his draft stock.
One team that didn’t get to work out Exum were the Utah Jazz though that wasn’t due to a lack of trying as they invited the Australian point guard to Salt Lake City on more than one occasion, but Dante Exum declined citing their ‘market’ and the fact the team had recently drafted fellow point guard Trey Burke in 2013.
Despite that, the Jazz weren’t going to let a player as talented as Exum get by them as they opted to draft the point guard with the No. 5 pick who is now set to play on their Summer League team according to the Deseret News.
“People obviously haven’t seen me play a lot,” Exum stated “but when I step on the court at summer league, I’m just going to play hard and show them the Australian type of basketball that we like to play.”
The belief was that Exum would play in the NBA’s annual mid-offseason tournament though at just 19-years-old and moving to the States from the Outback, there were whispers suggesting he may not play in the event.
Dante Exum and the Jazz will participate in the Las Vegas Summer League which takes place between July 11-21.