There is a good chance Exum could drop to #6 or #7

[James40]

He is a superb prospect. Athleticism isn't all vertical. If I recall correctly Westbrook didn't even put up a great vertical at the combine. Exum has great speed with the ball, and projects to be a plus defender. He outplayed Wiggins at the hoop summit, and was the best player not named Jahlil Okafor at the U19s. He's more of a sure thing than Wiggins in my opinion and I'm a Canadian who loves Wiggins.

But Westbrook's in game athleticism looked much better than Exum's. So Exum is some sort of sure thing because he played good at the Nike Hoop Summit, a game where Bismack Biyombo and Enes Kanter looked nasty. Agaric was better than Exum in the tourney and Ennis arguably as well. So the guy is a sure thing when he hasn't played basketball in a year. Dude is a guard who can't even dribble or finish with his off hand, but he's a sure thing. When he was playing, he didn't play professionals, no instead he played Australian high school players, who look like they wouldn't even make it onto the JV squads of the top teams in America, but he's a sure thing. I don't get it, all evidence seems to point to him being a bust, but everyone insists he's the next Penny Hardaway due to a Nike Hoop Summit game. This whole situation just screams danger stay away. He's going to be disappointing a lot of people.

Gordon was basically the MVP in the FIBA's and everyone is like meh, he can't shoot, he's ok. Exum has 4 turnovers against team USA in 11 minutes and people are like, Exum is the most talented, with the most upside player in this draft,

[AntetokounmBros]

Agreed. Supposedly Milwaukee has him in their top 3, but it may just be a smokescreen. Too early in the process to come to those conclusions anyway. If he's taken over the other 3 guys, you better be sure hes the right choice or you'll be hearing about it for a long long time.

I think the only way he falls past Orlando is if they love Smart, but I see them going for the high potential guy.

Yeah, I could definitely see Milwaukee trading down for Exxum. They seem to be sold on Parker, but I wonder if that's a smokescreen.

I know it's been brought up on the bucks board. If we like Exum or Parker, swap picks with Philly so they can get Wiggins and grab some other assets from them.

[bebopdeluxe]

Agreed. Supposedly Milwaukee has him in their top 3, but it may just be a smokescreen. Too early in the process to come to those conclusions anyway. If he's taken over the other 3 guys, you better be sure hes the right choice or you'll be hearing about it for a long long time.

I think the only way he falls past Orlando is if they love Smart, but I see them going for the high potential guy.

Yeah, I could definitely see Milwaukee trading down for Exxum. They seem to be sold on Parker, but I wonder if that's a smokescreen.

I know it's been brought up on the bucks board. If we like Exum or Parker, swap picks with Philly so they can get Wiggins and grab some other assets from them.

Ummm....but what if the Sixers like Exum as well as Wiggins?

[AntetokounmBros]

I know it's been brought up on the bucks board. If we like Exum or Parker, swap picks with Philly so they can get Wiggins and grab some other assets from them.

Ummm....but what if the Sixers like Exum as well as Wiggins?

From Bucks perspective, they would still be guaranteed one of Parker or Exum if they drop to 3. If Philly takes Exum, we take Parker.

From Sixers perspective, If they are happy with either Exum or Wiggins equally, they probably won't make the trade. If they prefer Wiggins, which has been the assumption for awhile now, they may be willing to give up something to move up a spot and guarantee Milwaukee doesn't take him. If they like Exum more, same thing applies.

It all depends on how badly PHI wants their player. They can take a chance and hope he drops past the Bucks, or give up an extra asset to guarantee they get him.

[rumdiary]

Exum has the demeanour, the mannerisms, of Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. That's why people are high on him.

I'm not saying he's going to be Kobe or Jordan, I'm just saying his body and the way he *moves* looks like them.

Also he REALLY stood out at the 2013 Hoops Summit in Portland. I re-watched the entire game recently, he possessed a really striking presence on the court that reminded me of Michael Jordan - the floppy hands, the forearms held horizontally, the slump of the shoulders... it's a recognisable trait that's probably not gone unnoticed by scouts and certainly not by me.

I don't know if it's a tangible though, how much of an indicator of Jordan/Kobeness is his mannerisms? Other posters in this thread are correct to point out Dante Exum's athletic limitations. If he goes to the Lakers though... it's intriguing!

[JB2]

A couple weeks ago I said it was a sure thing he's gone at 4, but at this point, it seems like you can make a strong case for the other 4 of Vonleh, Smart, Randle, and Gordon.

If he gets past Orlando and he really wants LA, Pelinka can find a way to get him there. Plan A, go top 4. Plan B, go to the Lakers.

If he refuses workouts with Boston and Utah but does one for Lakers I think that suggests something...

[bebopdeluxe]

A couple weeks ago I said it was a sure thing he's gone at 4, but at this point, it seems like you can make a strong case for the other 4 of Vonleh, Smart, Randle, and Gordon.

If he gets past Orlando and he really wants LA, Pelinka can find a way to get him there. Plan A, go top 4. Plan B, go to the Lakers.

If he refuses workouts with Boston and Utah but does one for Lakers I think that suggests something...

I think that if Embiid, Parker and Wiggins go 1-3, there is NO WAY he gets past Orlando at 4.

I still think he can go either 2 to the Bucks or 3 to the Sixers.

[HornetJail]

I don't think he's going past Philly unless Milwaukee or Cleveland makes a surprise pick at #1 and Wiggins/Embiid falls. I can't imagine him falling past Orlando or Utah though.

[Dame Lizard]

I knew Exum would disappoint on the vertical test, he's not a jumper. But he is super quick for his size and very long.

Fact: Tony Parker is the best PG in the paint in the NBA, yet he barely jumps when going to the rim. He uses speed.

Exum might not have the speed of prime parker, but his length is perfectly suited to attack the rim the way he does.

[Antrim]

I knew Exum would disappoint on the vertical test, he's not a jumper. But he is super quick for his size and very long.

Fact: Tony Parker is the best PG in the paint in the NBA, yet he barely jumps when going to the rim. He uses speed.

Exum might not have the speed of prime parker, but his length is perfectly suited to attack the rim the way he does.

I like the comparison. Not because they're the same kind of player, but because it shows you how some players just have some unique abilities, especially the superstars or the prospects with potential to be one. It doesn't make much sense to expect every player in every position to be part of a mold, and pretend that whoever is not can't be successful. Another example would be tweeners, nowadays it seems like if you're a 6'7"-6'9" forward prospect you're a recipe for disaster but the best players in the league all happen to be "tweeners". Special players have special abilities and they all need to be evaluated individually.

[Golabki]

Yeah Exum just accidentally had a better AST/TO ratio than Tyler Ennis at the U19 tournament.

If the U19 tournament is such a great indicator of NBA success then we should be looking at Dario Saric as a future hall of fame NBA player because he averaged 22.4 ppg 12.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game in that U19 tournament which by definition was populated exclusively by teenage basketball players.

Saric is going to be a top 10 pick this year and he's still 1-2 years away from playing in the league. What does THAT tell you about his upside?

Poor argument there, bro.

NO WAY Exum makes it past 4. As a Sixers fan, I take him at 3 over Parker, and - depending on the buzz that comes out of the private workouts - I am not sure I take Wiggins over Exum.

so exum is clearly top 4 be because he was worse than a guy who will go top 10?

I'm confused.

The exum hype is more about the fact that we don't know his weakness than actually knowing his strengths. When you don't know anything about a player it's easy to imagine greatness


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[Golabki]

I wonder why there isn't more concern about the fact that exum elected not to play real competitive basketball.


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[Antrim]

I wonder why there isn't more concern about the fact that exum elected not to play real competitive basketball.


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I guess for the same reason why there wasn't much of a concern with LeBron James playing high school basketball instead of going to Europe at 16...

[machu46]

I wonder why there isn't more concern about the fact that exum elected not to play real competitive basketball.


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I don't know, maybe he wanted to get drafted and get paid to play REAL competitive basketball instead of playing college basketball for free for a year?

[Golabki]

I wonder why there isn't more concern about the fact that exum elected not to play real competitive basketball.


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I guess for the same reason why there wasn't much of a concern with LeBron James playing high school basketball instead of going to Europe at 16...

clearly a different situation . The norm for players is to either play in the NCAA or pro ball outside the us... Exum elected to avoid either.




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[Antrim]

I wonder why there isn't more concern about the fact that exum elected not to play real competitive basketball.


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I guess for the same reason why there wasn't much of a concern with LeBron James playing high school basketball instead of going to Europe at 16...

clearly a different situation . The norm for players is to either play in the NCAA or pro ball outside the us... Exum elected to avoid either.




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Exum is Australian. There's really not a norm for Australian players because there aren't many of them in the NBA. He's about to be a top 5 pick in the NBA Draft so you can't really critique his methods.

[Golabki]

I wonder why there isn't more concern about the fact that exum elected not to play real competitive basketball.


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I don't know, maybe he wanted to get drafted and get paid to play REAL competitive basketball instead of playing college basketball for free for a year?

he could have been paid to play for a year in Europe or the the Australian pro league... So I don't get your point.

I'm not saying I think he made the wrong call... I'm saying on a board that psychoanalyzes players best on tiny details of their play, I think it's surprising people aren't jumping on exum for purposely chosen not to play competitive basketball for a year.

I mean wiggins is taking more heat for lacking a "killer instinct" because he didn't always score a ton of points than exum is for electing to not even try.

Seems weird.


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[whocurrz]

I wonder why there isn't more concern about the fact that exum elected not to play real competitive basketball.


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I guess for the same reason why there wasn't much of a concern with LeBron James playing high school basketball instead of going to Europe at 16...

clearly a different situation . The norm for players is to either play in the NCAA or pro ball outside the us... Exum elected to avoid either.




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He was in a tough situation. The NCAA season had already started when he graduated IIRC and I doubt going to play in Europe and sit on a bench like Brandon Jennings is gonna help and could hurt his value like it did Jennings. Don't know if European teams commonly keep young guys on the bench or play them but with it known he would be playing about 6 months max I doubt any team would have treated him with the same developmental standards as far as playing time goes as they would with a prospect they feel will be there a while. Training on his shooting and skills is much more important than scrimmaging according to many players and if Exum was able to improve his shot and offhand then I think he'll be fine

[Wooderson]

I wonder why there isn't more concern about the fact that exum elected not to play real competitive basketball.


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I don't know, maybe he wanted to get drafted and get paid to play REAL competitive basketball instead of playing college basketball for free for a year?

he could have been paid to play for a year in Europe or the the Australian pro league... So I don't get your point.

I'm not saying I think he made the wrong call... I'm saying on a board that psychoanalyzes players best on tiny details of their play, I think it's surprising people aren't jumping on exum for purposely chosen not to play competitive basketball for a year.

What are you ranting on about? Exum originally planned to attend college in the US next fall. That was 100% his plan this time last year. The Aussie school system is different than the US and he didn't graduate HS until last fall I believe. Then he had those huge games in the FIBA U19's last July against some of the top teams in the tournament and he shot up NBA draft boards to the point where he was considered a top 5 prospect in a loaded draft class.

Why would he choose to still attend college when his stock is so high? If Wiggins/Parker could have gone straight to the NBA from HS they would have.

[bebopdeluxe]

I wonder why there isn't more concern about the fact that exum elected not to play real competitive basketball.


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I guess for the same reason why there wasn't much of a concern with LeBron James playing high school basketball instead of going to Europe at 16...

Well played, sir.