Would you trade Exum for Lavine?

[da ThRONe]

Exum hits his open set shots at a high enough clip that he has to be guarded right now. He also has been driving and if no one stepped over to guard him he would make the open layup. When teams step up to defend him he makes great smart passes usually.


Physically this season has been a much larger toll on Exum than Lavine as well. Lavine is physically more mature than Exum and is used to playing more games.

The vast majority of Exum shots are open set shots. Still is no threat on offense right now.

 

[Jazz Spazz]

Defense wins championships.

Exum's defense is very good. Arguably the best rookie defender.
IMO it's much more difficult to get a player to care about defense, than care about offense.

When Exum takes a billion practice shots in the off season with a good coach, all but the most absurd of posters here will clearly be glad we have Exum instead of The Vine.

That's just what I think will happen... could be the cool aid talking... but I really like his defense.

The offense will come... maybe slowly, but it will come.

 

[AlaskanAssassin]

Dante is helping our team win basketball games, Lavine is not.

No he is not. Exum has a negative RPM. It's better than Lavine's, but he's not helping win games.

I generally assume that people who really like Lavine and think he is better prosepct than Exum look at the boxscore and have only seen him play against the Jazz.

It's the other way around. Fans that actually have watched more than a couple T-Wolves games this year KNOW that Lavine is better right now. Boxscores are only part of the puzzle. Watching Lavine play, seeing his confidence and aggressiveness, that's what tells me he's better right now.

 

[Jazz Spazz]

No he is not. Exum has a negative RPM. It's better than Lavine's, but he's not helping win games.



It's the other way around. Fans that actually have watched more than a couple T-Wolves games this year KNOW that Lavine is better right now. Boxscores are only part of the puzzle. Watching Lavine play, seeing his confidence and aggressiveness, that's what tells me he's better right now.

The bottom line is when Exum is on the court the team averages 106.4 pts per 100 possessions offensively, and allows 105.9 pts per 100 possessions defensively.

When Exum is off the court the team averages 108.2 pts per 100 possessions offensively, and allows 113.4 pts per 100 possessions defensively.

I'm pretty sure this means that Exum actually does help this team win ballgames.

 

[Ron Mexico]

The vast majority of Exum shots are open set shots. Still is no threat on offense right now.

I think that making shots when left open is what causes people to have to guard you.

 

[Qman]

No he is not. Exum has a negative RPM. It's better than Lavine's, but he's not helping win games.



It's the other way around. Fans that actually have watched more than a couple T-Wolves games this year KNOW that Lavine is better right now. Boxscores are only part of the puzzle. Watching Lavine play, seeing his confidence and aggressiveness, that's what tells me he's better right now.

I was watching them guard each other last night. Exum looks like his frame will fill out and LaVine looks like he will always be super skinny. Also think about how Hayward, Burks and Favors have physically progressed. It has taken 4 years but Hayward is hitting his physical potential. Exum's physical potential is scary good. And that is basically what we have to go on.

 

[jope]

The thing that eats at me about exum is he is nothing like I thought he would be. I though he would be getting in the lane at will, and be working toward finishing with contact. Like burks with better vision. He has absolutely been the opposite of that.. Was he just fools gold, or is he trying not to be himself?

 

[Ron Mexico]

No he is not. Exum has a negative RPM. It's better than Lavine's, but he's not helping win games.



It's the other way around. Fans that actually have watched more than a couple T-Wolves games this year KNOW that Lavine is better right now. Boxscores are only part of the puzzle. Watching Lavine play, seeing his confidence and aggressiveness, that's what tells me he's better right now.

Jazz have been winning with him as starter at a pretty good clip. He makes the Jazz better, lavine does not make minny better right now.

I seriously doubt more than 1 or 2 people here watches lots of Minny games. I have watched about 20 only because I really like Maple Jordan and want to see as many as I can. Minny is really hard to watch though and that is about my limit. Lavine is really hard to watch most of the time.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Jazz have been winning with him as starter at a pretty good clip. He makes the Jazz better, lavine does not make minny better right now.

I seriously doubt more than 1 or 2 people here watches lots of Minny games. I have watched about 20 only because I really like Maple Jordan and want to see as many as I can. Minny is really hard to watch though and that is about my limit. Lavine is really hard to watch most of the time.

Also in games we win Exum plays more minutes... In games Minnesota wins Lavine plays less minutes.

I like both guys I just think Exum has made the decision to play winning basketball rather than try to be aggressive at the detriment of the team. Right now Gordon, Hood, and Burke can all create shots better than he can, so he is deferring.

We've seen him be aggressive in summer league and at the Nike Hoop Summit. I believe he has it in him. i really don't think we have a clue of what he will be on offense and there is a chance he is a bust (relative to where he was picked), but I think right now we are seeing the colt... in a few years he'll be a horse.

 

[Sexual Favors]

Exum being aggressive would most certainly not be a detriment to this team. It would help us win more. Exum helps us win because he is a good defender and Burke was atrocious. This is why Kanter said he never had a true point guard. Our other core players (Hayward, Favors, Gobert, Burks, and Kanter while he was here) are probably all a little better than we have seen. Especially Favors and Gobert (because they are most dependent on PG play) because they've rarely played NBA ball with a legit PG. Dante helps us win by comparison to Burke. Burke was bad at offense and defense. Dante is just bad at offense.

I still really like Exum, and in no way think he will be a bust. I just really like Lavine and think he projects as a generational talent with his size, speed, athleticism, passing, and shooting. Then you factor in his work ethic and desire. Sure, he's not the smartest, but he's also not as dumb as you all say. Sometimes it takes awhile for the brain to catch up with the talent. How often is it that we see a prospect who projects so well in so many areas? A lot of athletes can't shoot, but he can... that is the ultimate weapon.

 

[fishonjazz]

lavine does not make minny better right now.

How do we know that minny would not be worse if lavine was injured?

 

[jimmy eat jazz]

I know I would.


Exum's biggest problem is he is soft mentally. Dude is scared to take it to the rack. He's got the mentality of a 12 year old out there.

I'm not calling him a bust. I just like Lavine a lot better.

Exum has some things going for him, like his defense, but he sure has a long ways to go. He better mature over the summer. We need a good point guard next year.

I'm not sure who I'd take. I do think it's worth pointing out that this was a common criticism of Hayward in his earlier years, that he was soft mentally, acted at times scared to shoot, deferred excessively to others, played passively and didn't take the ball to the hoop often enough or with any confidence. I made many of these criticisms myself.

I dare say that with his performance this year, he has put all these concerns to bed. In sum, I believe that it is still too early to say anything about Exum definitively at this point. I think we need at least another 2 years to see what kind of player he'll be. The question is whether we can afford to wait that long if we want to begin contending sooner rather than later.

Frankly, if we're playing 'what if' here, I think the better question is whether we should have taken Elfrid Peyton instead of Exum. Peyton, at least judging by the box scores, is a baller with a bright future. Orlando clearly had him higher on its board than Exum. Should we have had him higher too?