Dante Exum Over Smart: Massive Failure

[VoiceofSanity]

The 2014 draft wasn’t a particularly great one. Lot of busts in the lotto and first round.

Yeah the 2014 draft had hype, but the only real star to come out of the early picks was Joel Embiid and he missed his first two possible seasons. Jokic of course became a star, but he was off the radar and not taken until 41. Obviously we could say we should have drafted him, but that is less clear cut than Marcus Smart. Smart had hype and was literally taken the pick after Exum. It is like the 2011 draft. I don't blame the Jazz for not taking Jimmy Butler, but there is no reason they shouldn't have taken Kawhi with the 12 pick. He was a superstar in college and had a great NBA body and skillset. Mock drafts throughout the season had him going in the top 10, it wasn't like he was ever thought of as some reach had we taken him at 12.

 

[UB]

weird biomechanical movements

Great band name

 

[DasJazz]

The Jazz have picked in top 5 only 3 times in the past 37 years(that HAS to be an NBA record) and it's yielded us Deron, Enes, and Dante. Not a great return by any standards.

Hitting 1 out of 3 in baseball is HOF worthy.

 

[Thee Idiotic Minivan K]

Well, hindsight is 20/20. I don’t think any team would’ve taken Smart over Exum. Exum was being compared to Kobe by some, and there was a lot of hype surrounding Exum at the time.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Well, hindsight is 20/20. I don’t think any team would’ve taken Smart over Exum. Exum was being compared to Kobe by some, and there was a lot of hype surrounding Exum at the time.

That’s fine but we ignored the fact that he didn’t get better and between that and his constant injuries we made the same mistake of holding of keeping him around and banking on his development. Just drafting him would have been fine.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

That’s fine but we ignored the fact that he didn’t get better and between that and his constant injuries we made the same mistake of holding of keeping him around and banking on his development. Just drafting him would have been fine.

Uhh, what? Keeping him around was no mistake lmao. What did you want the Jazz to do, waive him? He ended up getting a solid player back in return at the end of the day.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Uhh, what? Keeping him around was no mistake lmao. What did you want the Jazz to do, waive him? He ended up getting a solid player back in return at the end of the day.

I would have tried to move him after you saw how far away he was. We would have gotten more than we got this year had we traded him after his first injury. He wasn’t going to be in the same timeline as Hayward and they kept banking on him being able to play and buying stopgap options with firsts... those costs are baked into keeping him around. We also could have had some cap space had we played hardball or waived his caphold. Failing fast is better than failing slow and reinvesting all along the way.

Also let’s chill out on him getting us JC. His contract matched and was palatable. We also have some second rounders... they would have done it for an expiring as well.

 

[Thee Idiotic Minivan K]

I would have tried to move him after you saw how far away he was. We would have gotten more than we got this year had we traded him after his first injury. He wasn’t going to be in the same timeline as Hayward and they kept banking on him being able to play and buying stopgap options with firsts... those costs are baked into keeping him around. We also could have had some cap space had we played hardball or waived his caphold. Failing fast is better than failing slow and reinvesting all along the way.

Also let’s chill out on him getting us JC. His contract matched and was palatable. We also have some second rounders... they would have done it for an expiring as well.

I’m not sure he had that much value after the first injury. I think we got as much value as we could at any point. His highest value was probably before he ever stepped into an nba court. And you don’t just give up on a top five pick that early. It doesn’t happen often because that is the gm admitting he made a mistake.

 

[jom2003]

The entire team is underpaid with the exception of Conley, Davis, and Bradley,

Ingles is definitely on the overpay side. Bojan is paid just about right and will be on the overpay side when his pay increases as he gets older/worse. Rudy is paid at the proper amount given everyone knows about his limitation and unworthy of supermax.
Royce is slightly underpaid but will definitely be on the overpay side when his contract starts next season.
None of the G leaguers are underpaid with the exception of Morgan(maybe). You won't find me complaining about my pay if I'm just gonna sit on the bench watching some NBA basketball while earning six or seven figures. If they are underpaid, Quin wouldn't have to run a seven rotation by the end of Denver series.

 

[jom2003]

Well, hindsight is 20/20. I don’t think any team would’ve taken Smart over Exum. Exum was being compared to Kobe by some, and there was a lot of hype surrounding Exum at the time.

It doesn't take much of a hindsight to see what a horrendous business it was when DL resign him to a 3 year fully guaranteed contract knowing his history of injury.

 

[infection]

Uhh, what? Keeping him around was no mistake lmao. What did you want the Jazz to do, waive him? He ended up getting a solid player back in return at the end of the day.

That's true but it's a lot like hitting a home run off a pitch in the dirt. It's not a good pitch to swing at. The fact that it worked out well doesn't make it a good pitch, nor a strategy to repeat going forward.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

That's true but it's a lot like hitting a home run off a pitch in the dirt. It's not a good pitch to swing at. The fact that it worked out well doesn't make it a good pitch, nor a strategy to repeat going forward.

I think it was more like seeing a pitch coming at your head and dropping down only to have the bat lay down a perfect bunt.

Let' s be honest here... JC was viewed as a good get at the time but far from perfect... his contract being expiring was as a big part of that deal. From Cleveland's side... they wanted the two second rounders more than Dante. It was a way for them to collect some assets by taking on some bad money.

What if JC bounces this summer... we invested all those years of development, draft picks for duct tape solutions to problems he was supposed to solve, and all that cap space for a couple months of JC? Good thing we held on to him.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I’m not sure he had that much value after the first injury. I think we got as much value as we could at any point. His highest value was probably before he ever stepped into an nba court. And you don’t just give up on a top five pick that early. It doesn’t happen often because that is the gm admitting he made a mistake.

He had more value then than when we traded him. It would have made sense to trade him for win now pieces or draft capital. We doubled, tripled, and quadrupled down on a bad bet... and that was the worse mistake imo.

 

[Thee Idiotic Minivan K]

It doesn't take much of a hindsight to see what a horrendous business it was when DL resign him to a 3 year fully guaranteed contract knowing his history of injury.

And it turned into JC. Good on DL. Masterful!! Wouldn’t you agree.

 

[Thee Idiotic Minivan K]

He had more value then than when we traded him. It would have made sense to trade him for win now pieces or draft capital. We doubled, tripled, and quadrupled down on a bad bet... and that was the worse mistake imo.

Well, this happens league wide in every league. Like I said a gm hates to admit a mistake. This isn’t just a Utah jazz issue. None the less we got one of the best bench scorers in the league for Exum.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

That's true but it's a lot like hitting a home run off a pitch in the dirt. It's not a good pitch to swing at. The fact that it worked out well doesn't make it a good pitch, nor a strategy to repeat going forward.

I mean, not giving up on players is a good strategy. Exum showed elite level defensive potential, it was worth investing in.

Yall all have boners for Christian Wood, and teams gave up on him too early and see how much they like it.

 

[Thee Idiotic Minivan K]

He had more value then than when we traded him.

I disagree. And if he did it wasvery minimal. And you can’t argue with what we gotfor him. Way way over his actual value.

 

[JazzyBelle]

Swing and a miss. Dante was always more of a track athlete than a natural basketball player.

It used to make me laugh all those around here who were comparing him to a young Kobe when he first for drafted.

 

[JazzyBelle]

I mean, not giving up on players is a good strategy. Exum showed elite level defensive potential, it was worth investing in.

Yall all have boners for Christian Wood, and teams gave up on him too early and see how much they like it.

Cutting ties with Exum was right move, only problem is Jazz FO hung on to him for to long so the mystic was gone. Everyone in league knew he was a bust. Takes a lot more then being able to defend to stick in nba. Gary Harris is a lockdown defender at guard but he has vast more offensive game then Exum

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I disagree. And if he did it wasvery minimal. And you can’t argue with what we gotfor him. Way way over his actual value.

I can argue with what we got for him because it wasn't for him... it was for the second rounders. If we had another contract in that range it would have been the same deal. It wasn't the player.