For the first time in Dante Exum’s career, he was playing against the Utah Jazz.
Exum’s precipitous fall has been well-documented. The uber-athletic Australian guard, drafted fifth overall by this very Jazz team in 2014, failed to meet his lofty expectations due to constant injuries. After a short stint in Cleveland, he ventured off to Europe, playing one year in Spain and one year in Serbia, before returning to the NBA and joining the Mavericks this offseason.
And in this game, Exum showed that he came back much better than he left.
In his first NBA start since 2020, Exum played arguably his best game this season, totaling five points, six rebounds, seven assists and two steals, showcasing all the skills he brought back from Europe – skills that Dallas desperately needed.
Exum, on the year, is averaging 4.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists, but the numbers don’t tell the whole story: he is a perfect complement to the rest of the Mavericks’ guards. The guard rotation is replete with scoring prowess; lucky for Exum, he just so happens to be good at everything but scoring, and lucky for Exum, the coaching staff recognizes this.
“He’s not judged on scoring,” Jason Kidd, the Mavericks’ head coach, said. “He’s judged on doing the right things on both sides of the floor, and that’s what he does for us.”
Exum has been the best point-of-attack defender on the team; he has shown an excellent feel for navigating screens, and his length allows him to disrupt passing lanes easily. He takes defensive pressure off of Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving in the backcourt and allows players like Dereck Lively II and Derrick Jones Jr. to roam the paint and swat shots in the frontcourt.
His size also adds a sneaky element to his defense: rim protection. 52.2% of the shots Exum defends are within six feet of the basket (good for the 95th percentile), and opponents shoot 9.5% worse on those attempts (82nd percentile) when he is the primary defender. For context, Evan Mobley, the Cavaliers’ all-defensive forward, ranks in those categories in the 96th and 84th percentile, respectively.
His length also allows him to double as a forward: he is equally as useful starting next to Dončić and Irving as a forward as he is captaining the bench lineup as the point guard next to Tim Hardaway Jr. This versatility enables him to inject much-needed playmaking, another of Exum’s strong suits, into any lineup. He is an incredibly underrated passer and acts as the “third playmaker” that Dallas was searching for, ranking in the 89th percentile in passing quality and in the 66th percentile in open-shot creation.
This playmaking has helped Dallas speed up its offense. Exum is an effective slasher, frequently using his size and athleticism to bully defenders in the half-court and his speed to outrun defenders on the fast break. The numbers match the eye test: Dallas’ transition frequency is tied for first in the NBA when Exum is on the floor.
Exum excels because he understands his role. He knows what is needed from the team and when it is needed. He is a shapeshifter, morphing into whatever the lineup he is in requires, be it a ballhandling guard or defensive wing. He is all of the basketball cliches: the “connector,” the “glue guy” and “the player that every championship team needs.”
In short, he is a veteran, and he plays like one.
In a full-circle moment, Exum re-established himself as an NBA-caliber player against the very team that doubted his capabilities. He may never live up to his draft hype, but Exum has been and will continue to be an integral part of the Mavericks.