And he avoids body contact at all cost. And whenever he gets it, he goes flying into first row. His weight is probably not the problem, like Jazz4ever said. At one point he was getting bullied by Sebastian Telfair with physicality... 170lbs 6'0'' Sebastian Telfair. Exum has 25 pounds in weight and 6 inches of height on him.
His strength is his bigger problem than weight. He looks soft at everything he does. His dribbling is soft and loose(just look at how he dribbles it even when there's nobody around him when he's taking it up the court... it's like he's using the tips of his fingers to dribble), his passes are soft, his cuts off screens are soft and indecisive, his drives are soft and timid... In the summer I kept saying that I am not worried about his shot or handle, cause he can work on that and improve, but I am really worried for the lack of aggression and physicality. Can you think of an example of a player that improved dramatically their aggressiveness and physicality past their first season? I don't buy the Hayward comparison. Hayward had 30+ point game in his rookie season and was dunking in traffic taking contact. Trey ****ing Burke draws more fouls per 36 than Dante.
I think next summer will be key for Dante. It will be crucial about how much work he puts in to improve his body. I want to see him go body to body in the paint. I want to see physical plays! I want to see him make hard and sharp cuts, I want to see him making decisive plays. The one I loved the most this season was the drive against Jrue Holiday. It was decisive, sharp and gave him absolutely no chance to contest. This is what my hope is for him in the future - that he will do those every game and even bang his body and draw fouls in the paint if he faces resistance.
The best things about him so far are the things he was actually not supposed to be good with - 3p shooting and defense. Strength is still a problem in defense, but you can absolutely see the elite defensive potential in pretty much every game and if he keeps this level of shooting or even improves it and adds what we thought were his strengths - slashing and speed to the rim, we are looking at an extremely hard player to guard. I just really really hope that his passiveness is more a product of lack of temporary confidence and strength than lack of inner assertiveness and determination.