Abandoned by the alliance for two years!18+4 in the past 8 battlefields!The Mavericks have picked up 6.5 million treasures in 2 years, which is comparable to Brunson
On December 25th, Beijing time, because today is Christmas, so there is no game, in this time period we can talk about some players who have played well in the past period, the recent Heat team's Herro has played very well, averaging 27.6 points and 6 rebounds per game in the past three games, leading the Heat to win 2 wins in the past 3 games, the Timberwolves side McDaniels can average 17 points and 2 breaks per game in the past three games, and the Timberwolves renewed him with a contract of hundreds of millions in the offseason, which is not a loss now.
There are also a lot of cheap signings in the league that have played a great performance this season, such as the Mavericks' Exum, who must be no stranger to many fans, in the 2014 draft, he beat a number of talents to become the No. 5 pick in the first round of the year, and behind him are Randle, LaVine and Jokic All-Stars, and his draft template was considered to be Penny Hardaway.
Penny Hardaway is one of the most gorgeous two-way guards in history, Exum is also the role of a two-way guard, he was selected by the Jazz team, the Jazz have always had a tradition of inside and outside combinations, the team wants to take him as Delon's successor, become the team's outside core, as a result, Exum because of injury, in the first four years of his career did not get too many opportunities, but the Jazz still chose to renew him.
But he didn't give him a core position, and after five years with the Jazz, he was traded by the Jazz to the Cavaliers, and then played two seasons with the Cavaliers and was sent to the Rockets, where he didn't get a chance to play, and he left the league in the '21 offseason because no one cared about him. After leaving the league, Exum played in overseas leagues, which lasted for two years, and if it weren't for the Mavericks' offseason bringing in members of the Jazz management, Exum might not have gotten a chance to return to the league.
He is the former Jazz executive Dennis Lindsay, it was Lindsay who recommended the team to sign Xum, they got Xum with a 2-year, 6.5 million contract, and the second year is not guaranteed, but Xum readily accepted the contract, because he wanted to return to the league to prove himself, no matter how he was a first-round No. 5 pick, the talent is here, he wants to catch up with the self who had high hopes, so he chose to return to the NBA.
One of the reasons why Exum left the league was that he didn't shoot three-point shooting well, and it was difficult for a guard to get a foothold without shooting in the small-ball era, so he improved his shooting in the past two years. He was also a fringe rotation at the beginning of his move to the Mavericks, as Kidd didn't dare to risk being too heavy on a player who hadn't played in the NBA for two years, but then Irving was injured, which also gave Exum a chance.
He entered the starting lineup and teamed up with Doncic, and Exum also seized the opportunity, starting the second game against the Trail Blazers, he scored 23 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists in 2 of 2 three-pointers, 26 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists against the Lakers, 2 of 2 three-pointers against the Spurs and 2 of 2 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
In the past 8 games, Exum has averaged 18 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, and he has proved his talent, Exum is not only excellent in scoring and organization, but he can also do a good job in leading the defense, can defend the opponent's offensive core, and his single ability is also very reliable, when Doncic is off the court, he can rely on his offensive and passing performance to lead the team forward.
The current Exum gives people a feeling like Brunson next to Doncic in the past few years, when Doncic is on the court, he opens up space to be an off-ball shooter, and Doncic will stand up and lead the team forward when he gets off the court, with excellent singles ability, and the defense is also great, his arrival is also to make up for the vacancy of Brunson's departure from the team before, Irving has been absent recently, Doncic has led the team single-handedly, but with the help of Exum, they have also won 5 of the past 8 games, which is very good.
"Even after Irving returns, we will continue to start Exum", this is what Kidd said in a recent interview, and it can be seen that Exum has conquered coach Kidd with excellent play recently, he said: "I like to see three players on the court who can handle the ball, and Exum can take the pressure off Irving and Doncic', which can't help but remind people of '22, when the Mavericks had Dinwiddie, Doncic and Brunson three ball-handling cores.
In the end, the Mavericks reached the Western Conference Finals, but Cuban was unwilling to give away a big contract in the offseason, which eventually led to Brunson's departure, and he regretted it very much afterwards, but looking at the current excellent Exum, it is estimated that the Mavericks will not let him go again in the offseason, he has the level of a top blue-collar team, and he can share worries for the core. Speaking of which, what do you have to say about the current Lone Ranger and Exum?