Going to be very happy any which way we land one of Embiid/Parker/Wiggins or Exum. Think they're all going to be superstars, with Embiid potentially developing into a legitimate franchise changer.
See, people keep putting Exum in that category and I'm not sure why. Okay, he played a nice game at the Nike Hoop Summit and the U19 Tournament. Big deal. Would've liked to see this kid play a season against college talent. I do hear great things about the kid's acumen for the game and his overall makeup. I question whether he has the scoring instincts to be a full-time 2guard which is likely his position in the pros. Plus he has to work on his shot. Honestly I think I'm all set with adding another guard that has to work on his shot. Can someone tell me why we should rate Exum so high? Serious question.
FWIW, I think if Ainge doesn't end up with a top 3 pick he may try to move the pick.
My wife's family lives in Hopkinton, MA but we live in Australia. I've seen Exum play a few times.
He's 6 foot 6 and growing, he's still a baby physically like Giannis on the Bucks.
He's got a nice stroke and it will improve because of his work ethic.
A way to summarize him and why he's so good is the combination of his dribble penetration skills and athleticism. His length and springs make him an incredible on and off ball defender and he's got the size of Joe Johnson with the spring of Russell Westbrook- he literally burns the entire court with players lagging behind.
When he finishes on the break it's almost guaranteed that he'll end up on the floor under the backboard padding to stop his momentum.
Think of Westbrook in the open court. Think of Derrick Rose's aggression combined with a point guard's IQ. He's almost relentless at trying to pick an opening and attack the basket and force the defense to lose cognition.
He takes contact mid air and finishes and his shooting stroke is mechanically nice. I'm not sure if he'll play a shooting guard or a point guard but he has size and length and agility. His Wingspan is almost 6 feet 10.
He's basically a shooting guard version of Nicola Batum, except he attacks the basket more and is a game changer on both ends. The kind of player you can put on either the PG or SG, and if he puts on enough muscle even the SF.
He's got some Tony Parker-esque moves in the key where he breaks down a defender and plants his feet with a single step, then pivots with head fakes to score easily. The Australian game is very European but his father played for North Carolina so he's had that American influence on his game since he was in a diaper.
I mean he's got EVERYTHING going for him. Athleticism, size, finishes under contact, good shooting mechanics, length, agility AND he loves to play defense. Combine all of these with his IQ and you're looking at a mix between Westbrooks athleticism and Hardens IQ. He just needs to turn his shooting mechanics into a 40% three shooter which I would say will be pretty easy for him with his work ethic.
I'd pick him over Wiggins and after Parker of all the wings. Type in 'Exum inside out dribble' or look up some of his crossovers.
Kyrie Irving used to play here as a junior and he is better than Kyrie was at his age.