The Dallas Mavericks struck gold last offseason by signing Dante Exum to a two-year deal. It’s a move that surprised some Mavs fans and seemed questionable at first given there were no other rumors of interest in Exum, but he quickly proved why he was perfect for the Mavs.
Exum’s improvement as a shooter solidified his place in the rotation, and his ability to be a third ball handler outside of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving was exceptional. He then began to struggle towards the end of the season, and his struggles continued into the playoffs.
Exum has been unplayable in the playoffs, and while Exum doesn’t play much, he still gets minutes sometimes. He shows no confidence when he’s in the game, and it may be time for Jason Kidd to remove him from the rotation completely.
He doesn’t bring any value to his minutes, and just like Tim Hardaway Jr., there are players who should play ahead of him. An underconfident Exum has no impact offensively, and on defense he does well at times, but that doesn’t justify him enough to play in the regular rotation.
Exum already doesn’t play much early, but if he doesn’t have an offensive impact, it’s not worth Kidd playing him.
