NBA Draft Rumors: Dante Exum unlikely to fall out of top five

Although Dante Exum suggested he would only play for the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, it appears he’ll be playing for neither as it’s believed by many that Exum will not likely last beyond the top five in the upcoming 2014 NBA Draft.

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Exum’s father, who has been the mouthpiece of the young Australian recently backed off his stance of only wanting to play for Los Angeles or Boston, suggesting that they would grant teams with top four selections workouts. Of course, Exum’s reluctance to play outside of a major market hasn’t apparently scared off teams like the Milwaukee Bucks who may be considering drafting Exum with the No. 2 overall pick.

Whatever the case, Exum continues to shoot up draft boards and while it seems rather unlikely that he’d be drafted before either Joel Embiid or Andrew Wiggins, the noise of Exum going in the top five selections is increasingly real.

In addition to the Bucks, both the Utah Jazz and Orlando Magic have shown real interest in Exum and both could use a traditional point guard, even though Utah picked up Trey Burke and Orlando doing the same with Victor Oladipo in the 2013 draft.

The one place that doesn’t look like an option for Exum are the Philadelphia 76ers, not because they couldn’t use his talent, but the reinging Rookie of the Year, Michael Carter-Williams appears to have the Sixers point guard duties locked up for the foreseeable future. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who are drafting first, also aren’t likely to be in on Exum which leaves the Bucks, Jazz and Magic as his most likely destinations.