The Rockets are nearing a deal to re-sign free agent reserve guard Dante Exum, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Charania had reported earlier today that Houston was talking to free agent point guards, with John Wall not expected to play for the team this season.
Injuries have hampered Exum’s time in the league thus far. He was drafted by the Jazz with the fifth overall pick in 2014. The club eventually sent him to the Cavaliers in December 2019.
Cleveland, in turn, shipped Exum out to the Rockets as part of the four-team James Harden trade, though injuries kept him on the bench for the entirety of his 2020/21 Houston tenure. He appeared in just six games for Cleveland, and thus overall, during the 72-game 2020/21 NBA season.
All told, Exum has appeared in 245 of a possible 554 games during his eight-season NBA run thus far. The 6’5″ Exum holds career averages of 5.7 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 2.1 APG across 18.6 MPG.
On a Houston team not expected to contend for a postseason berth, the 26-year-old could have plenty of opportunity to rebuild his value in the marketplace. Charania observes that Exum averaged 9.0 PPG and 2.8 APG for Team Australia’s bronze medal-winning club this summer during the Olympics in Tokyo.
The Rockets currently have a full 20-man preseason roster, so they’d need to waive someone to make room for Exum. Khyri Thomas, Daishen Nix, Tyler Bey, and Armoni Brooks are on non-guaranteed contracts.
I’ll always root for this kid
Helps explain some of the Wall situation, sort of, adding his defense and playmaking around their young shooters. Would like to see him stay healthy. He obviously always has had talent. Curious to see if he can grow his offensive game around what should be a lot of space on the floor
Going without Wall in their rotation, it falls upon Kevin Porter to take over as the starting PG. Exum could be a decent backup, and at least for now they also have Augustin if he’s needed. They also used Jae’Sean Tate at PG a little bit during his rookie season so he can play some at the point if called upon to do so.
Dante is a bust. Going into 7th yr. All he has done is get hurt. He is going to be 26 yrs old. Rockets were better off signing Nttilikina and mentoring him. Atleast you know he will play D. It’s a shame about Exum. Coming out as a 19 yr old he looked like he had a future. But after getting hurt it seems he’s happy just sticking around. I wouldn’t want players with that attitude on my team.
How is Exum only 26? It feels like he’s been in the league 10 to 12 years.
Probably because he spent most of his career on the injury list. No different from Wall but younger
Rockets are a team that every playoff team will circle on their calendar. The easy win if you don’t over look them. next 5 years the last place in the west team.
You misspelled Thunder, Kings and Timberwolves.
Is this a noIQAl burner account? Some of you have such bad takes. Just look at the giants in baseball this year. Nobody thought they even had a chance to compete for the playoffs yet all year they have had the best record. Funny you say 5 years, you do realize the rockets were a top 5 team 2 years ago right? Go play nba2k and let the people who actually watch basketball discuss without the children around
I don’t believe it will be a easy win by any means. They may not have the star power of Nets, Lakers, Warriors, Heat, and others, but there is plenty to like about this young team. 76ers, Bucks, Clippers, and others started out like the Rockets with younger players. Just because Rockets aren’t doing the AARP roster, doesn’t mean they will be easy wins. When players lose their walker and end up on the injury list less than half way through the season in Brooklyn, LA, or Miami, you’ll see age and star power means nothing. At least those clubs can share each other’s Depends and save a bit of cash.
It’s gonna take time for guys like Usman Garuba and Josh Christopher to develop their games, especially Garuba who really needs to work on his offense (although he’s already a great defender). But both Green and Sengun are ready to step in right now along with other young players like Kevin Porter, KJ Martin, and Jae’Sean Tate. While guys like Christian Wood, David Nwaba, and Daniel Theis are still fairly young themselves.