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The Utah Jazz point guard shot 3-4 from the field, scored six points, grabbed two rebounds and handed out two assists. He played a little under 20 minutes.
Exum showed some good things: He's noticeably bigger and just as fast off the dribble as last season. He broke away in transition for a lay-up, went backdoor for a nice dunk and had some nice passes.
But unfortunately for Jazz fans, Exum's good plays were few and far between. And it's not his fault. The Boomers lost to Lithuania, giving up an extended run late in the fourth quarter. Exum played sparingly in the second half, including riding the pine entirely in the last period.
And when he did play, he was relegated to shooting guard, only running the offense for a few possessions and not getting many chances to get into a rhythm.
On some levels, this was understandable. Exum is still just 20 years old, still a baby in international competition and still the least experienced player on his team. At the same time, Exum looks to be much improved from the end of last season, and it was clear just by watching that he was capable of doing more than he was allowed. If the Utah Jazz let him play through his mistakes last year, what happened to Exum on Wednesday was the polar opposite. Simply put, Exum was held on the shortest of leashes.
Still, it's too early to overreact. It was just the first friendly for the Boomers and everyone played roughly the same amount of minutes. Still, if you are a Utah Jazz fan, it's not out of bounds to worry about Exum's role, especially because every Jazz fan wants to see Exum improve as a point guard and floor leader.
Tony Jones