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Is Exum The Worst Player in The NBA Who Gets Minutes?

mrob said:
Dante is the poster child for why the NBA shouldn't be drafting kids so young. Sure, there are few examples of players that young that are ready to play in the NBA, but by and large they aren't. The current system leads to far too much speculation and by the time the rookie contract is over, they are still only 22. My worry with Dante is that we won't really know how good he will be at the end of his contract and will not be able to make an educated decision about whether to give him the big money to stay.
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If Dante is the player we all hope for, and he was a couple years older and more developed, Utah never gets a chance to draft him because he doesn't fall to #5. There are pros and cons to drafting a project, but in Dante's case, Utah may very have benefited from having the chance to gamble on a player they may not have had a chance to draft otherwise.
 
freakazoid said:
If Dante is the player we all hope for, and he was a couple years older and more developed, Utah never gets a chance to draft him because he doesn't fall to #5. There are pros and cons to drafting a project, but in Dante's case, Utah may very have benefited from having the chance to gamble on a player they may not have had a chance to draft otherwise.
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You misunderstood a bit what I was saying. The whole system is flawed by encouraging speculation. I'm not sure what exactly the fix would be, but letting more of these kids spend time playing before they are drafted would be a good thing.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
There is really no comp for Dante. Westbrook... ahhhh no. Westbrook is an alien athlete. Dante is fast but he really isn't the explosive athlete he is.

Kidd... not really. Kidd had the best hands in the NBA on defense. He was amazing. Also, his vision... even as a rookie is much better than Dante's. He was better at forcing turnovers... Dante is much more of a positional defender (which I think is more effective).

Dante can be as effective as these guys but he is really different. He is his own player... Before Westbrook and Kidd there was no real comp's you could compare them to either.

This is the scary thing with Dante. Are there no good comps because he's such a unique talent or because what he is doesn't work in the NBA. I have hope because his defense will be elite and at least 5 times a game I see opportunities for him to do his hesitation dribble towards the baseline and get all the way to the basket.

It will be an interesting ride.
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Dante is ALREADY an elite defender. Top 5 of NBA guards in "keep in front." He doesn't often get in foul trouble either which means he is doing it with footwork which is an extremely rare asset to have in any NBA player, let alone a rookie. He has EXACTLY what I coveted in Aaron Gordon, but with the ability to play the point. If Dante can learn to be a top 15 offensive point (not too hard of a goal to grow into, I think we will be contenders. The scary part is that his Defense is bound to improve as weel as he becomes more familiar with the opposing players and their tendencies.
 
framer said:
Dante is ALREADY an elite defender. Top 5 of NBA guards in "keep in front." He doesn't often get in foul trouble either which means he is doing it with footwork which is an extremely rare asset to have in any NBA player, let alone a rookie. He has EXACTLY what I coveted in Aaron Gordon, but with the ability to play the point. If Dante can learn to be a top 15 offensive point (not too hard of a goal to grow into, I think we will be contenders. The scary part is that his Defense is bound to improve as weel as he becomes more familiar with the opposing players and their tendencies.
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I agree about him being elite on defense already. I just think Kidd was elite on defense for different reasons. I have never seen someone deflect so many balls.

On the flipside I don't think I've ever seen anyone move his feet like Dante and be able to stay in front of guys like that. I think as he learns the NBA charge a bit better it will be devastating. A few times he is clearly in front of guys and takes contact but does so awkwardly and will actually get called for fouls.

I really like him... he just frustrates me on offense right now. I think we need another proven player to help support him while he figures things out. Burke is a project to me and one that doesn't have a big upside.
 
framer said:
Dante is ALREADY an elite defender. Top 5 of NBA guards in "keep in front." He doesn't often get in foul trouble either which means he is doing it with footwork which is an extremely rare asset to have in any NBA player, let alone a rookie. He has EXACTLY what I coveted in Aaron Gordon, but with the ability to play the point. If Dante can learn to be a top 15 offensive point (not too hard of a goal to grow into, I think we will be contenders. The scary part is that his Defense is bound to improve as weel as he becomes more familiar with the opposing players and their tendencies.
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He isn't elite. He has shown elite flashes but he still has problems on defense.
 
mrob said:
You misunderstood a bit what I was saying. The whole system is flawed by encouraging speculation. I'm not sure what exactly the fix would be, but letting more of these kids spend time playing before they are drafted would be a good thing.
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I understand what you're saying, and it's the reason the NBA forces American players to play at least one year in college. I'm not sure why there's a loophole for foreign players. My point was that if Utah was drafting #1, then gambling on a project would be less than ideal. However, since we drafted Dante at #5, we may very well have drafted a player that we wouldn't have been able to get at #5 if he was less of an unknown. I understand that gambling on raw projects creates a problem for the league, but in our case with Dante, that problem could end up working in our favor.
 
Dante is about being under control and staying within the system. Those are really nice attributes for a 19-year-old to have. But once he gets stronger and quicker he's going to bring some improvisation to his game and that's when his quick first step and court vision will make him an all-star on the offensive end to go with his nearly all-star defensive abilities that he already has. I'm not sure he'll ever gain the strength and confidence to take it inside like Hayward but if he gets a pull-up jumper to go with his 3 pt. shot and a floater here and there then look out cause he is going to be the real deal.
 
freakazoid said:
I understand what you're saying, and it's the reason the NBA forces American players to play at least one year in college. I'm not sure why there's a loophole for foreign players. My point was that if Utah was drafting #1, then gambling on a project would be less than ideal. However, since we drafted Dante at #5, we may very well have drafted a player that we wouldn't have been able to get at #5 if he was less of an unknown. I understand that gambling on raw projects creates a problem for the league, but in our case with Dante, that problem could end up working in our favor.
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Yeah, I see what you're saying. It's a gamble that can cut in both directions. Overall, I think the NBA is worse for allowing so much speculation in its draft system. Millions and millions of dollars going to players that bust by not being able to live up to that potential. That happens anyway even in an ideal system, but it's exaggerated by including these players where so little is really known.
 
Defensively Exum is as special as Gobert.... Im exited about his matchup against Westbrook... But in everything else Exum is garbage right now and has to keep working.
 
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