Chicago Bulls top remaining free agents in September: Dante Exum
The Bulls are pretty deep in the backcourt heading into Training Camp and the preseason. But it is worth noting a player that executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley could be really high on this offseason. Maybe the best name to watch among guard targets for the Bulls in free agency heading into the month of September is the former Cavs floor general Dante Exum.
It feels like the move for Exum to join the Cavs was a negative step for him in his career over the course of the last two seasons. Exum was making progress in his last two full seasons with the Utah Jazz in 2017 and 2018. But the last half-season he played in Utah, and the last two years in Cleveland, didn’t do much of anything for his progression.
If the Bulls felt like Donovan and his staff had the ability to progress Exum’s two-way game, then this would be a solid move to at least bring him in for Training Camp and the preseason. Exum is a solid defensive guard that also has good court vision. At his peak, Exum was registering assist rates around 25-30 percent, and a defensive rating in the mid-100s.
There is the potential for Exum to be a net positive on the floor for the Bulls. Last season in Cleveland, the Cavs were +13 per 100 possessions with Exum on the floor compared to without. That is a major difference for a team that struggled in the Central Division. Now, it’s hard to know whether that was due to the inept ability of the Cavs starting unit for most of last season compared with the opposition. Nonetheless, that is an impressive number.
Exum is a good on-ball defender with good length that can be a more reliable player on that end of the floor than someone like Devon Dotson, Coby White, or Ayo Dosunmu. Buying into his net positive effect and on-ball defending would be the main reasons why the Bulls could give him a shot.