Dante Exum a defensive example for Jazz draft prospects


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SALT LAKE CITY — Dante Exum was a surprise visitor to the Utah Jazz's fourth pre-draft workout Wednesday, perhaps there to cheer on fellow Australian Hugh Greenwood in his first NBA workout. But Exum's presence can be more than moral support for the six prospects that worked out — he can also serve as an example of what it takes to succeed in the NBA.

To be clear: Dante Exum had a terrible first year on the offensive end in the NBA. His 34.9 shooting percentage was lowest in the league among players who played over 1,500 minutes, remarkable for someone who shoots the ball as infrequently as Exum. He seemingly refused to attack the rim: over the last three months of the season, he drew just two trips to the line. Teams figured out they could mostly ignore Exum on offense and use his man as a deep rover, forcing the Jazz to play 4-on-5.

Exum forced his way into the starting lineup on the back of stellar defense, remarkable for a rookie. Rookies generally take several years to become even average defenders due to their inexperience and difficulty making reads in the rubber-band defenses required in the league. As Walt Perrin, Jazz vice president of basketball operations, said, "There's very few [prospects] that are ready to play NBA basketball defensively."

Today's prospects:

Exum was a force, however. The Jazz allowed just 99 points per 100 possessions when Exum was on the floor last season, significantly better than counterpart point guard Trey Burke's 104.5 figure. (The Jazz's team average was 102.1).

This was especially shocking because Exum had been a sieve on the defensive end in Australian competition, to the point where teams worried whether he had the any desire to play defense. Even Perrin, a key part of the team that drafted Exum, was surprised: "Personally, yes, he did surprise me in how well he played defense this year." Perrin wasn't alone as several others in the Jazz's front office and coaching ranks also expressed how impressed they were that Exum turned on the jets defensively, especially given his lackadaisical attitude towards defense in his pre-NBA career.

Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart saw the change when he played against the Jazz in January: "He’s improved defensively – I played against him in the U19s, so I kinda knew a little more about him than probably anybody else. He’s playing very well on the defensive end, and his offense is going to come."

So what can NBA prospects learn from Exum to emulate his success on the defensive end? Perrin had a full list: "The first thing they need to understand is that in college, you can handcheck. You can't do that in the NBA, especially above the free throw line. They have to learn how to move their feet a little bit better. Most of them have to learn to move laterally a lot quicker. Again, they have to learn how to get over screens, and get over rescreens, which we do a lot in the NBA and they don't do a lot in college. So it's a lot of things they have to learn."

What is the difference between rookies like Exum, who are able to improve so quickly, and those that flounder in their first seasons? Perrin said, "First and foremost, you've got to have desire to play defense and dedication to play defense. If you don't have that, it's going to be tough to try to even learn how to play defense correctly. If they have that, they have an opportunity to get better defensively."

The fringe players in today's workout are unlikely to be drafted. Only Tyler Harvey was in DraftExpress' latest mock draft, and even he was No. 60, Mr. Irrelevant. But as Elijah Millsap and Exum showed last season, playing strong defense can be a road to NBA success.

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Andy Larsen

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