Quin's Murderface
Well-Known Member
^
Just the opposite. Dante should be thankful he landed on a team with a coaching staff so willing to teach and be patient. Exum was one of the least prepared rookies to hit the league. He couldn't shoot, wouldn't drive to the hoop. Now he has the opportunity to come back slowly from his injury, get 25-30 mins next season as part of the PG/SG rotation with Ricky and Donovan and then become the starter when Rubio's contract expires.
Jazz had a HOF PG you may have heard of by the name of John Stockton. He started 5 games as rookie, 38 as a 2nd year player and only 2 his 3rd year. And he had FOUR years of college, not like Dante who had zero college experience.
Exum played in all 82 games as a rookie, starting 41. Last year he played in 66 and started 26. He shot an abysmal 30% on his 3's. Jazz were in it to win it last season. Dante's play was hurting the team both offensively and defensively. It was great he "broke out" in garbage time against GS. Let's hope what he's worked on carries forward once he shakes off the rust.
He wasn't hurting the team after the start of the year. I checked at one point and the team had a positive net rating with him playing after January. I stopped tracking it but I'd be surprised if it had changed a ton. I like what you said above though. It's just a shame he got injured and he'll still get a chance to fight for a starting position assuming the Jazz are telling the truth about how they feel about him as a player. Considering all the injuries and his rawness coming out he's still in a really good position. I could see a lot of teams already giving up on him and trading him by now.