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Exum states that he absolutely feels more comfortable at the point...

And he should. His development has been terrible. I don't blame Utah for what they did, and I don't blame Exum for wanting out.

Hell, Exum never wanted to be here in the first place. He made that clear.

He skipped workouts here because we had a supposed PG of our future on the team. It was a bad situation for him. That is fairly common for players, it had little to do with Utah and all to do with the situation. It is the same reason Kanter didnt want to come here in the first place. We had Milsap, Favors and Jefferson.
 
You have it backwards. This is all happening because the Jazz sent a message to Exum. The Jazz don't need promise or potential. They need results. If Exum wants this then he has to work his butt off and take it. Earn it the hard way. Nothing is given and if cannot outperform those he is in competition with then he falls down the depth chart. Elite speed not withstanding.

It's not about the Jazz messing up on Exum. It's about Exum messing up on the Jazz.

Then put the ball in his hands and let him run the offense - before you make the judgement he can't be a pg!!
 
Why does he play at the 2? Like, at all? His handle isn't great, his shot isn't great. He doesn't move in the offense well.

He has shown he can defend well (his rookie year) and he can run the pick and roll. He's always stated that he is a PG.

So, why are we trying to move him? Because he is tall? Makes no sense. About as dumb as trying to turn Burks into a PG.

He should play 20 mins a night as a PG. He should have played that way all year long as the backup PG. Screw Mack, screw Neto.

Hell, we freaking TANKED for him. If he doesn't become an All Star, we aren't winning a title. Yet, we play Neto and Mack ahead of him? Makes no sense, none at all.

Winning games to keep Hayward is goal #1. Developing Exum into an All Star is goal #2.

If Exum doesn't pan out, we wasted three years. Yet, we played Neto and Mack over him.


Answers:

** If Exum isn't the starter at PG, he will likely need to play some minutes at the 2-guard to get more than 20 minutes per game.

** Exum was playing at the 2 for many of his minutes in the POs and was effective.

** No one said we're trying to move him.

** The Jazz were trying to win games and win in the playoffs this year. That agenda conflicts with developing players sometimes, notwithstanding the fact that Exum was coming off an ACL and a missed season.

** The Jazz can probably give Exum 20+ minutes per night and still win. Exum isn't really hurting the Jazz, except when he plays PG and makes bonehead mistakes.

** If Exum doesn't pan out, he doesn't pan out. There's only so much the Jazz can do to develop him.
 
It's probably true though. Hard to call it garbage. He definitely sounded frustrated in his exit interview.

He was being played behind both Mack and Neto to end the season, despite playing well when he got time on the floor. He had plenty of reason to be frustrated, and it's not because of Hill, who is a legit starting PG on a playoff team.

Utah is in a tough spot here. Having to match some ridiculous offer on Dante next year will hurt the team, but they've got to be really careful they don't end up with a Kanter situation.

I think you can justify playing Mack ahead of Dante, but playing Neto ahead of him in the playoffs is indefensible. I think Exum has a case for feeling slighted.

Utah needs to bring back Hill, but Dante has to be the backup, and he should also get some minutes playing together with Hill to get him more floor time.
 
You mean like in game 4 where he drove in traffic and jammed in their faces? Lotsa pressure in that game, and he did just fine. He's getting better and I for one am stoked about his development after the injury, as it could have gone the other way. I'm not too worried about labeling him one way or another. Utah has guys who can handle the ball and be playmakers, and doesn't really need a PG to dominate the ball in the Stockton/D-Will sense. And even with that, I see a lot of promise with Exum as a playmaker.

As long as Exum can continue to get back to being a top defender at the PG spot, his role in the offense will continue to come along, just so long as Quin doesn't put him in one of his WTF lineups that make you think he's on the coke again.

That's not pressure. Klay was 5-6 feet away from him and wasn't interested in pressuring the ball at all. That's another part of the problem with him. Teams give him a ton of space and wide open looks, they easily go under screen, help off of him, etc. He needs to massively improve his shot too. And that's why he becomes extremely easy to guard - opponents can pick and choose how to guard him - if he's consistently running point they can pressure him and turn him over or they can go under screens, if he's not running point they sag off of him and help off of him.
 
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what is his elite trait?

He will often drive right past his defender from behind the 3-point line to the rim, and it happens so fast the defense doesn't even have time to react. You should know this if you've been watching the Jazz play.
 
It's times like this I wish Jeff Hornacek was still an assistant for us. Exum needs to go see Kobe this offseason, hit the weight room, stay in the gym shooting for hours in so he shows us that we don't have to go spend 80-100 million on George "Over The" Hill.

P.S he moves really quick. Like REALLY quick. When I saw him blow by his defender in San Antonio, in person and throw down that tomahawk that was some special ****.
 
He will often drive right past his defender from behind the 3-point line to the rim, and it happens so fast the defense doesn't even have time to react. You should know this if you've been watching the Jazz play.

Which doesn't stop him from suddenly getting scared and pulling the ball back out or running under the basket to the corner.
 
That's not pressure. Klay was 5-6 feet away from him and wasn't interested in pressuring the ball at all. That's another part of the problem with him. Teams give him a ton of space and wide open looks, they easily go under screen, help off of him, etc. He needs to massively improve his shot too. And that's why he becomes extremely easy to guard - opponents can pick and choose how to guard him - if he's consistently running point they can pressure him and turn him over or they can go under screens, if he's not running point they sag off of him and help off of him.

You really need to reread this post.

You prove that Exum doesn't need a markedly improved shot! When they sag off him he can rush for the TD.
 
Really?

S P _ E D

Maybe u had too many to notice it?

Speed is useful on O only if you can do something with it. Only 2 things will make defenses respect your speed : Either you can shoot well so they have to guard you close or you can score at the rim well so they have to collapse on you. In both cases it makes you efficient and it opens the floor to others if you can get them the ball.

the problem right now is that Dante is fast but can't really shoot nor finish a the rim. In this context his speed is NOT and elite trait.
 
So glad to hear it.

I hope this sends a message to the Jazz. Quit drooling over Mack. Think twice before signing Hill to mega bucks long term deal. And stop with this bs of playing Dante off the ball.

You drafted the kid at 5. The kid has something almost no one on the roster has. An elite trait.

Name the Jazz players with an elite trait? And name their elite trait. (e.g. Gobert - rim protection)


Exum could be franchise altering. I worry Q can't see it.

Bringing back Hayward, Hill and Ingles (and especially Mack) might just mean never taking the chances needed on Exum.

Great post. I worry that Q too is too in love with Mack, or the next vet PG that comes in.

I want to see Exum developed, and in the least given the clear back up position at the 1. If he completely blows it, which I doubt will happen, then bench him. But give him ample time to make mistakes, and grow into that role. He was our starter for a great run in his rookie year.
 
Answers:

** If Exum isn't the starter at PG, he will likely need to play some minutes at the 2-guard to get more than 20 minutes per game.

** Exum was playing at the 2 for many of his minutes in the POs and was effective.

** No one said we're trying to move him.

** The Jazz were trying to win games and win in the playoffs this year. That agenda conflicts with developing players sometimes, notwithstanding the fact that Exum was coming off an ACL and a missed season.

** The Jazz can probably give Exum 20+ minutes per night and still win. Exum isn't really hurting the Jazz, except when he plays PG and makes bonehead mistakes.

** If Exum doesn't pan out, he doesn't pan out. There's only so much the Jazz can do to develop him.
You're right, however he had his best individual and impactful stretch of play in Game 4 vs the Warriors at the PG position. Developing Exum primarily as a 2 imo raises his floor to someone who can be a solid rotation player, but hard caps his ceiling at the ball is out of his hands more often, and you're limiting his chances to create for himself or others which is his main projected strength offensively. Especially watching the Jazz' offense this year and seeing Exum being actively ignored by Hayward/Ingles/etc when he was open at the 3pt line because they don't trust his shot enough (which is totally fair enough as well).

Developing Exum at the PG spot is where the Jazz can potentially maximise his ceiling to potential all star status, but at the same time it lowers his floor to the point where you watch him some games this season and wonder how he is even in the league. I think Snyder and the Jazz management are doing themselves a disservice by trying to develop Exum as a 2 because he has the size to fit there because it's hardcapping Exum/the team's potential. Exum probably will never be a guy who you can run at the 2 and expect him to be an effective floor spacer, but you can hide that by running Exum at the 1 and play to his strengths with him being able to use his speed/athleticism to get into lanes and spots on the floor that frankly no other player on the roster is capable of doing. But again, the downside is that his ball security is pretty poor currently, he coughs the ball up too regularly for a starting level PG, and his shot off the dribble is putrid. Not to mention his finishing is poor.

But if you want Exum to make strides in these areas, I think you need to make sure he's getting the opportunity at PG to work on these in game play situations. Practice will only get him so far. Playing him at the 2 and taking the ball out of his hands means that he will be less prone to making mistakes on the floor, but he's also far less likely to ever reach his full potential with the Jazz because he's not given the opportunity to work to his main strengths while spotting up in the corner and getting ignored the majority of possessions. It's the only way I can see Exum living up to the #5 pick for the Jazz, but it also comes with the added risk that he never gets there. Hopefully Jazz management put some trust in him this offseason to run the offense and I think in the long term Exum will reward them if they trust him.

tl;dr - Developing Exum at the 2 means higher floor, lower ceiling. Developing Exum at the 1 means lower floor, higher ceiling.
 
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