Dante Exum thrives as 2014 NBA draft's mystery man

 


NEW YORK — Dante Exum knows no one knows much about him.
In fact, the Australian recited the two most common requests he's gotten over the past few months from strangers, NBA personnel and reporters alike: Could he describe his game, and could he also compare it to that of a current NBA player?
Welcome to life as the 2014 NBA draft's mystery man.
"It's funny," Exum said Wednesday. "I didn't understand it at first. It's good to be known, but it's good to be a mystery."

A convergence of factors — many unexpectedly fortuitous — have combined to create this aura surrounding a relatively unknown player. And now, many are expecting Exum to be a top-five pick in Thursday's draft.
He said Wednesday he's only worked out for three teams — the Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic, holding the second, third and fourth picks — but his agent also has been in contact with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who hold the draft's top pick. It's almost mind-boggling for an international player not yet 19 years old, someone off most everyone's radars not even 14 months ago.
To understand Exum's dramatic rise and subsequent hype, begin with two basketball events.
In April 2013, the then-17-year-old Exum put on a show at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Ore., scoring 16 points and stealing some of the spotlight from the big-name players also participating in one particular game — which also featured likely top-10 picks Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Julius Randle.
"(But) not a lot of people were paying attention because it looked like he was going to college," ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla said earlier this week.

Jazz match Hornets' offer, bring back Gordon Hayward

The Utah Jazz weren't willing to let Gordon Hayward get away.
Nine months after failing to get an extension done with their young guard, the Jazz matched the Charlotte Hornets' four-year, $63 million offer to their restricted free agent and will now bring him back to their rebuilding team. And while it had seemed as if the 24-year-old Hayward may have been ready for a change of scenery, his agent, Mark Bartelstein, said that – while he was flattered and impressed with the Hornets' group – he's more than happy to return to Utah on this deal.
"Charlotte put a great presentation in front of (Hayward), as far as (owner) Michael Jordan and (general manager) Rich Cho and (coach) Steve Clifford; I mean they really just made a terrific impression," Bartelstein told NBASPORT UPDATES. "And you know, it's great to know the Jazz think so highly of Gordon that they want to match it. So I think it's a win-win, you know? Charlotte made an incredible impression on him, and that's why he signed with them, and it's always great to know that your team values you that they would match an offer like that.
"(Hayward is) very thankful to Charlotte, and appreciate and that won't be forgotten. For the Jazz, I think they made a strong statement about how they feel about Gordon and now he'll come and play his heart out for them as he always has."
Hayward averaged 16.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game last season, but the Jazz went just 25-57. Yahoo Sports first reported that the Jazz decided to match Charlotte's offer to Hayward.

Dante Exum and all, Jazz trying not to project too far

LAS VEGAS — Utah Jazz rookie guard Dante Exum turned 19 Sunday. Big man Derrick Favors celebrated his 23rd birthday Tuesday.
Point guard Trey Burke and rookie forward Rodney Hood are 21; big men Enes Kanter and Rudy Gobert are 22; and guard Alec Burks turns 23 next Sunday.
Swingman Gordon Hayward, who signed a four-year, $63 million deal this month, is 24. Get him in line for an AARP card.
With all that promise on the Jazz roster, it's easy to fast forward two years and project how good they could become. But general manager Dennis Lindsey knows that's impossible.
"I've said this before: We really don't want to skip steps with any of this," Lindsey said.

Cavaliers coach David Blatt can't believe his good fortune

LAS VEGAS – Two months ago, David Blatt was on top of the world when led undermanned Maccabi Tel Aviv to stunning upsets over CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid for the Euroleague championship.
Three weeks ago, he was on top of the world when the Cleveland Cavaliers hired him as head coach, making him the first European-based person to get a head coaching job in the NBA.
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Three days ago, he was on top of the world when NBA superstar LeBron James announced he would return to Cleveland to play for the Cavaliers.
"I've been parachuting from mountain top to mountain top in the last two months," Blatt told USA TODAY Sports.
So, who is David Blatt, the man who is going to coach LeBron James?
Blatt, who was born in 1959 in Framingham, Mass., is regarded as one the best basketball minds in the world. His journey from Framingham to Cleveland is remarkable and compelling.
He played at Princeton for legendary coach Pete Carril and embarked on a professional basketball career in Israel and then began his coaching career in Israel in 1993. He remained in Europe to coach in Israel, Russia, Italy, Turkey and Greece until the Cavs hired him.
"The Cavaliers are getting a guy who is one of the most creative coaching minds in the world," ESPN analyst and international basketball expert Fran Fraschilla said. "Most of the things that made him incredibly successful in Europe will translate to the NBA.His styles of play have varied based on the type of talent he has had."
It was that basketball mind that got the Cavaliers' attention. That is what they were looking for to lead a team desperately trying to become competitive again.
"More than anything else, the thing that spoke to us about David is his mind for the game," Cavaliers general manager David Griffin said. "He's unique. People said the hire's outside of the box. Dave is an innovator and he's somebody who's not afraid to try new things and he's somebody who has such a thorough understanding of the game from Xs and Os standpoint and human element, it was a perfect blend for us."
As a teenager, Blatt was an athlete but also participated in the choir and student government in high school. At Princeton, he studied English literature.
"I didn't grow up in a nuclear family but I was always surrounded by really good people who influenced me and then I met and became attached to different situations from different facets of life," Blatt said. "I did a lot of different things and was always finding myself in different environments and it's something I came to be comfortable with and that I liked."

Power ranking the top 5 players in the World Cup

The World Cup has been absolutely thrilling so far, and there have been tons of brilliant performances. Here are my power rankings for top 5 players in the tournament so far.

5. Guillermo Ochoa

A year ago the Mexican national team was in absolute shambles. They were going through new coaches seemingly every week, and they barely qualified for the World Cup, needing the United States to help them out by beating Panama to get them a play-in game with New Zealand to qualify for Brazil. But now that they’re here…
Mexico has been a revelation, and their best player has been goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. Ochoa grabbed headlines when he stonewalled an explosive Brazilian team, making several point blank saves to deny Neymar and the rest of Brazil. Ochoa is out of a contract soon — a lot of teams will be offering him big bucks to come join them.

4. James Rodriguez

 

James Rodriguez flew a bit under the radar heading in to this tournament. All anyone could talk about in regards to Colombia was the absence of star Radamel Falcao and how much the team would miss him.
Forget that. Colombia has been arguably the most exciting team so far this tournament, led by the playmaking brilliance of Rodriguez. He plays his club football for AS Monaco in France, so it’s rare to catch him on TV in the States. (I’d only see YouTube clips of him before this World Cup.) It’s time to get to know him. He’s been colombia best player, and easily one of the five best players so far this World Cup, logging 3 goals and 2 assists in the first three games.
Oh yeah, he’s also 22 years old.

3. Neymar

 

All the pressure was on Neymar heading into this World Cup. The star player on Brazil’s most promising team in years, Neymar had to deal with the weight of an excited host nation demanding a deep run.
So far, he’s been totally brilliant, scoring 4 goals  and carrying a sometimes shaky Brazil team to the top spot in Group A. Plus that hair. Oh, the hair.

 

2. Arjen Robben

 

Arjen Robben has one move. He starts out on the right, and then he cuts inside to the left. Anyone who’s ever watched Robben knows that it is his move. Every player on the field knows that it is Robben’s move. When you watch him, you scream out at the TV, “HE’S GOING TO CUT INSIDE TO HIS LEFT.”
You know he’s going to do it, the defender knows he’s going to do it, and everyone in the stadium knows he’s going to do it.
And then he does it. No one knows how. But he does it. He’s got three goals and an assist for a Dutch team that looks primed for a deep run. Fear the inside cut. It’s coming.

1. Lionel Messi

 

 

Argentina has never *really* warmed up to Lionel Messi. He left at a young age for Spain because his club team in Argentina wouldn’t help him with medical issues and the Spanish club would. He under-performed at last World Cup. Argentina has always been a Maradona nation — think of Maradona as Michael Jordan, and Messi as LeBron James, and you might get an idea what his relationship is like with his country.
Argentina needs to get over themselves. Messi has lived up to any and all hype this World Cup, scoring 4 goals in the group stage, including a stoppage time laser that catapulted them to a 1-0 victory over Iran. He’s scored big goals when he’s needed to, and the best player in the world looks to be at the top of his game.

Honorable Mentions:

Robin Van Persie, Gervinho, Karim Benzema, Enner Valencia

Dwyane Wade will stay with the Miami Heat

Free-agent guard Dwyane Wade will return to the Miami Heat, a person familiar with the deal told NBA SPORT UPDATES Sports on Tuesday.
The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly after the deal became official.

On Tuesday, Wade posted a photo of himself in a Heat warmup suit during the national anthem and wrote "Home is where the heart is. My Home, My City, My House. .. #HeatLifer."
There wasn't much doubt Wade would return even though his friend LeBron James decided to leave Miami for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

No guarantee Donald Sterling will be out by NBA season

LAS VEGAS -- NBA Commissioner Adam Silver continued to express confidence that the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers would eventually go through, but admitted that it might not be by the start of next season.
Silver, speaking after the league's latest Board of Governor's meetings at the Wynn hotel, said the extensive legalities in the Donald Sterling saga could delay the transfer of ownership to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that was agreed upon on May 30 for a league record $2 billion.
The hearing to determine whether Donald's estranged wife, Shelly, was within her right to sell the team is currently on hold, with proceedings scheduled to continue on Monday and closing arguments set for July 28.