Dante Exum will have to play off the ball with Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz have several nice, young pieces and added another one in last month’s draft when they selected Australian point guard Dante Exum with the fifth-overall pick. The only problem is figuring out how all of those pieces fit together.

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Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders believes Exum will have to play off of the ball, at least for now.

"I’ve also liked what Lindsey has done. I’m not quite sure the Exum/Burke backcourt will be quite as good of a fit as anticipated, but they have a LOT of options, rotations, and lineups they can choose from. That’s really a testament to what Lindsey has done in stocking the roster with young, multi-faceted and somewhat interchangeable players. Not that I don’t think the youngin’s will ever work together, but until Burke’s outside shot improves, it will force Exum to play off-ball almost exclusively..which I’m not sure he’s quite ready to do. I think he can develop into more of a combo guard, but is still most comfortable with the ball in his hands at this point."

In his summer league debut, Exum scored 10 points on four-of-10 shooting from the field, one-of-four shooting from beyond the arc and one-of-two shooting from the free throw line, to go along with three assists, three rebounds and just one turnover – but he showed off an array of skills and impressed everyone who tuned in. You can see the complete highlights from his debut here. He wound up averaging just 7.2 points, 2.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game, but scouts still seemed pleased with his performance.

Exum measured in at 6’6 and 196 lbs. with a wingspan of 6’9.5 at the NBA’s Scouting Combine. Exum was ranked by Jonathan Givony of Draft Express as the fifth-best prospect in the draft.

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