Thorpe Ranks Smart 20th among NBA Rookies so far

[SHAQATTACK]

Don't know the guy .....so could care less.

For me ..from the games I seen so far

Smart is certain Top 10 rookie and for what he brings all around on the court for his team .....because he plays Defense and Offense .   He could be top 5 .......

Exum......isn't even in my top 20 or conversation .....he has done zip ...far as I'm concerned......he is a long ways from being a point guard ...no confidence .....what he might do....doesn't jive ...if he hasn't done squat so far.

[smokeablount]

C's.  When his 3-point percentage gets above 35%, MS is going to be an extremely valuable player.   I'd bet my left arm he'll get there by the end of next season.

I wouldn't hold my breath. He shot 29% from college three. We're most likely talking seasons here, not weeks or months.

It probably won't be by end of year, but in college he was taking tons of contested 3s and difficult shots off the dribble as the #1 guy.  In this offense he should take mostly quality shots for now.

[LarBrd33]

We saw Exum's "it" factor in summer league and he has been terrific this season, showing the ability to make both simple passes and tough ones (when required) to teammates for easy shots. He makes hard drives and dishes for 3s or dunks. He delivers lobs. He leads fast breaks, which result in wide-open scoring chances. And, most impressively, he finds open shooters far away from the action.

He's doing this with very few mental errors, too, while also managing the game. Exum is playing like someone who deserved to be drafted first overall.

Before Smart went down with an ankle injury, he looked like a solid complement to Rondo and perhaps, ultimately, his successor. Although Smart is not the passer Rondo is and never will be, he looks like a playmaker on defense and a better natural scorer.

Those are the notes on Smart and Exum in their entirety, by the way.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11872465/top-20-rookies

That's pretty high praise for Exum... his stats thus-far have been pretty underwhelming, but I haven't actually watched him play.  Saw a Jazz forum and they saying Exum should be starting over Trey already, but that's pretty typical for fanbases to over-react to the young kids not yet getting the opportunity. 

20 for Smart surprises me to.  I'd be curious to see the rest of THrope's list.  I actually do respect that guy's opinion. 

[Fafnir]

Trey Burke has been so very underwhelming, that's what is causing people to clamor for Exum to be given a bigger role. No signs of improvement from Burke, his shooting and defense are a huge negative for the Jazz right now.

[greece66]

Any report that ranks Exum first is not to be taken seriously.

[D.o.s.]

We saw Exum's "it" factor in summer league and he has been terrific this season, showing the ability to make both simple passes and tough ones (when required) to teammates for easy shots. He makes hard drives and dishes for 3s or dunks. He delivers lobs. He leads fast breaks, which result in wide-open scoring chances. And, most impressively, he finds open shooters far away from the action.

He's doing this with very few mental errors, too, while also managing the game. Exum is playing like someone who deserved to be drafted first overall.

Before Smart went down with an ankle injury, he looked like a solid complement to Rondo and perhaps, ultimately, his successor. Although Smart is not the passer Rondo is and never will be, he looks like a playmaker on defense and a better natural scorer.

Those are the notes on Smart and Exum in their entirety, by the way.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11872465/top-20-rookies

That's pretty high praise for Exum... his stats thus-far have been pretty underwhelming, but I haven't actually watched him play.  Saw a Jazz forum and they saying Exum should be starting over Trey already, but that's pretty typical for fanbases to over-react to the young kids not yet getting the opportunity. 

20 for Smart surprises me to.  I'd be curious to see the rest of THrope's list.  I actually do respect that guy's opinion.

Exum Bogdonovich Parker McDaniels Payton Gordon Noel Wiggins McDermott and Mirotic are his top ten, in that order. They each have an accompanying blob of nothing words that say, basically, "Nice Things."

[Celtics4ever]

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/3102528/dante-exum

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/2990992/marcus-smart

For 20 mpg he is not doing much.  Marcus is heads and tails better than him on D which the ESPN stats do not reflect well.   Both are huge works in progress on offense.  Exum shows a shooting stroke but all the amazing athletic ability has not materialized because other NBA guys have it too.

[cb8883]

This is about right. Yes currently hurt and has done nothing to disprove my Marcus Banks comparison which is all over the web and Roy even mentioned it when he was drafted. Exum is a superstar in the making though. God I wish the Celtics won that coin toss.

[PickNRoll]

This is about right. Yes currently hurt and has done nothing to disprove my Marcus Banks comparison which is all over the web and Roy even mentioned it when he was drafted. Exum is a superstar in the making though. God I wish the Celtics won that coin toss.

Your Marcus Banks comparison couldn't be more wrong. The difference in defensive IQ between Banks and Smart is night and day.  Smart plays all-NBA defense at 3 positions right now.  That's an incredibly valuable asset.

[Celtics4ever]

. Exum is a superstar in the making though.

I do not see it.  Could be a decent player with some work but right now, he is a rather average to decent rookie.  But superstar, nope.
 

Wiggins and Parker look like superstars in the making.


http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/scoring-per-game/sort/avgPoints/position/rookies