Dante Exum declares for 2014 NBA draft
As expected, Australian guard Dante Exum will make the leap to the NBA next season.
Dante Exum has decided to declare for the 2014 NBA Draft, the Australian prospect's family and new agency announced on Tuesday, via Chad Ford of ESPN.com:
Exum has agreed to hire agent Rob Pelinka and Brandon Rosenthal of Landmark Sports Agency. Pelinka's clients include Kobe Bryant, James Harden, Andre Iguodala and Andre Drummond.
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"We are thrilled and honored to be working with Dante and his family," Pelinka said in an statement to ESPN. "As the NBA continues to expand its brand around the world, we feel like Dante's international story comes at a perfect time. We also believe that, with continued hard work and focus, Dante is destined to be a 'franchise' point guard in this next generation of great NBA players."
The announcement isn’t a surprise, it just makes official what observers have thought to be the case for a long while. Exum has been hosting agents in Australia over the past month, with Ford reporting that eight made the trip to Melbourne hoping to represent the promising combo guard. He and his family made the decision on Tuesday morning.
Exum has been excellent in international competition, and showed off his size, length athleticism and all-around game at the Hoop Summit last summer. He is projected as a top five pick, and SB Nation’s Jonathan Tjarks has him at No. 3 on his big board.
