Utah Jazz's Dante Exum 'not ready for the NBA'

The Utah Jazz believe they lucked out when they landed Australian point guard Dante Exum with the fifth-overall pick of the first round of the 2014 NBA Draft. There was talk he could go in the top three because of Joel Embiid’s injury and most didn’t expect he’d fall past the Orlando Magic, who held the fourth-overall pick.

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As talented as Exum is, he has struggled in both the Las Vegas Pro Summer League and the FIBA World Cup. According to Sean Deveney of Sporting News, scouts do not believe Exum is ready for the NBA.

"In the 10 weeks since the NBA draft, we have not had all that much opportunity to watch Jazz guard Dante Exum — who was chosen with the fourth pick that day — in action. He played in five Summer League games in Las Vegas this summer and, now, five more games with the Australian national team at the FIBA World Cup.What have we learned?“Not much,” said an Eastern Conference scouting director, laughing. “He’s not ready for the NBA, that is for sure. But a lot of guys are not ready for the NBA and they have got to learn on the fly. He is no different. But he is not going to jump into the league and all of a sudden average 20 points a game. There’s just no way.”"

Of course, Exum just turned 19 back in July and hasn’t seen much action against competition like this. His size and talent has the Jazz excited about his future.

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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Utah Jazz’s Dante Exum ‘not ready for the NBA’

By Andrew Melnick | Sep 5, 2014