In recent games, it’s been tough sledding for Dante Exum, and the Cleveland Cavaliers need him to get it going again.
Reserve guard Dante Exum had a pretty nice start to his tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers after he was reportedly traded to them last month by the Utah Jazz along with two future second-round draft picks, in exchange for bench scorer Jordan Clarkson.
Exum was a very active driver and cutter earlier on for Cleveland, and he even had a career-high 28-point game against the Minnesota Timberwolves earlier this month, as noted by Basketball Reference. Since that performance, though, it’s been tough sledding for Exum, and him missing the three contests following that Minnesota one reportedly due to a nasty illness had to be really irking for him.
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Nonetheless, since Exum has been able to go for the Cavs from that point, he’s had a pretty minimal impact and he needs to get it going again. Though it is only related to a 13-game sample size, Exum clearly has the worst offensive rating on Cleveland this season.
Cleveland needs Exum, who is a capable secondary playmaker and solid reserve one in his minutes, to make more of an imprint in games in that regard.
Coming into Cleveland’s last game against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, where Exum had a season-high five assists (per Basketball Reference), Exum had only seven assists in his previous six games.
Some of the reason for that is due to Matthew Dellavedova taken the reigns as a key reserve playmaker with Exum, too, and while Exum’s assist rate of 14.5% in January, as indicated by NBA.com, is decent, he’s been passive in most of his recent games overall and has been more hesitant to penetrate and/or drive to score.
Since that aforementioned 28-point outing versus the Twolves, Exum has not had over five points in the seven games he’s been active, and in three of those, he’s had just two points, as shown by Basketball Reference. Frankly, his 6.2 points in 17.9 minutes per game with the Cavs don’t really tell the more recent story.
Now I wouldn’t expect Exum to really have many big outings in terms of scoring and/or assist totals, because he’s not a Clarkson-type bench scorer, and it’s going to take time for him to get chemistry down with pieces such as Larry Nance Jr., along with perhaps Dellavedova in some instances, Alfonzo McKinnie, who should stick with Cleveland after his second 10-day contract expires, and Kevin Porter Jr.
Though I’d throw John Henson in there, too, I’d expect there’s a good chance the expiring big man could be traded by the February 6 deadline, and even with his contract situation, I’d still imagine there’s a good chance Kevin Love could be moved as well, even with him recently hitting on how he’d be “happy” to be in Cleveland post-deadline.
Circling back, Porter has been sidelined since that Minnesota game due to a reported left knee sprain and was initially reportedly expected to be out four-to-six weeks, but is probable against the Detroit Pistons on Monday, which would give Cavs fans something more fun to see.
With more run with those type of players, though, and I still don’t realistically think Delly will be traded at this point given that he’s completely lost his shot and his trade value is uncertain, Exum’s reserve playmaking I would think will make an impact more consistently going forward.
Exum’s perimeter defense against 1’s and 2’s has been competent, and though him playing primary defense some with Porter out most of this month isn’t ideal for Exum, Dante’s presence has been felt more throughout on that end, and he has good feel off the ball which has helped shut off passing lanes.
That’s more so expected, anyhow, and is just fine considering Exum has the makings of a plus perimeter defender for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
That being said, the Cavaliers need Exum to get it going as a driver/facilitator more to help out their young guards in Darius Garland and Collin Sexton to some degree. Hopefully Exum gets more comfortable as a secondary playmaker for Cleveland head coach John Beilein and company, because Exum should have plenty of opportunities and I’d imagine that could bode well for Dante and the Cavaliers.
It will be interesting to see what Exum can provide for Cleveland’s bench on Monday at the Detroit Pistons, a game where, again, Porter is probable.
Porter was really starting to establish himself as a key piece for the Cavs as a reserve driver, transition threat and a promising playmaker (though like many Cavs, turnovers have been an issue), and in December, averaged 11.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, per NBA.com.
Anyway, I’d think that Exum and KPJ could play off each other well, and both could definitely aid the Cleveland Cavaliers in the fastbreak game, too. Exum is a rangy 6-foot-5 player that finishes well and makes good decisions in those situations after collecting long defensive rebounds or getting deflections, and Porter is second on Cleveland this season in fastbreak points per game and is extremely athletic.
Moreover, I’d like to see Exum be assertive on the offensive end for Cleveland the rest of this 2019-20 season and help out his teammates more, as he did against Chicago.