After spending seven seasons in the NBA, Dante Exum saw a desperate need to hit the reset button.
It was at that time that Exum had been there, done that as far as the NBA is concerned, so he decided to take his talents to Europe. That was in 2021, when Exum started playing for FC Barcelona, where he spent one season.
From there, Exum played the 2022-23 season for Partizan Belgrade before he signed a contract with the Mavericks on July 14. The two years playing abroad, Exum said, is precisely what he needed to re-charge his NBA battery.
“My early years in the NBA were plagued with injuries,” Exum said. “So, I think going over (to Europe) and finding a groove and just staying the course — finding how my body works and I think just maturing — it’s a lot.
“Coming back here I’ve been able to use that confidence that I built up over there to sell myself.”
In Exum’s first stint in the NBA, the Utah Jazz made the 6-5 guard the fifth overall pick of the 2014 draft. Exum played well enough as a rookie to be chosen to the Rising Stars Challenge during the NBA All-Star Weekend, but never really felt the pressure that’s associated with being a very high draft pick.
“I think obviously going to Utah, helped that,” Exum said. “It’s obviously a lower market and the fans were great in accepting me and giving me time.
“I was an 18-year-old kid coming over (from Australia) and had never played a game of professional basketball. So, I think they saw the potential that I had to be in this league.”
After that promising rookie season, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the summer of 2015 and missed the entire season. That was excruciatingly painful on several levels since Exum played in all 82 games as a rookie, including starting 41 of them.
“It was definitely difficult,” Exum said. “I played a full 82-game season (as a rookie), so to miss the whole next season when I put in the work in the offseason – and I felt like I was in a good mental frame and good physically — for it to go down like that, that hurt.
“And then obviously I just kept pushing back and pushing back, and I couldn’t find a groove in staying healthy after that.”
In October of 2017, Exum had shoulder surgery. That was followed by an ankle sprain, a bone bruise, and a partially torn patellar tendon in his right
knee – all in the 2018-19 season.
The Jazz eventually cut ties with Exum and traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Dec. 24, 2019.
“Obviously with the injuries that happened it kind of stunted my growth a little bit,” Exum said. “But I never backed away from the confidence that I had, and I knew that I do belong in this league.”
The Cavs traded Exum to the Houston Rockets on Jan. 16, 2021. But Exum never appeared in a regular season game for the Rockets, who waived him on Oct. 16, 2021, prompting his move to Europe.
Exum said his two seasons in Europe was a time of growth and maturity.
“My first year in Barcelona I think everything was about coming back (to the NBA),” he said. “And then when I signed in Serbia, I took on that leadership role to a point where everything was about that. That was my focus. It wasn’t about the NBA or anything. I think that’s what helped me.
“I was just playing basketball. I was enjoying having the time of my life, just enjoying good quality basketball and focusing on what I can control when it came up. Then, this opportunity (with the Mavs) arose, and I jumped on it.”
Exum, now 28, averaged 13.2 points for Partizan last season and ultimately caught the attention of the Mavs. Meanwhile, coach Jason Kidd knows sometimes it’s been beneficial for European players who were drafted in the NBA to return and play a bit in Europe before returning to the NBA.
“I think there’s cases out there that have helped guys that have been drafted and had to go to Europe to play and come back and find a home and a system that fits their style,” Kidd said after Thursday’s practice session. “You look at Exum coming out as a lottery pick and then going back to Europe to play, and then coming back here and having an opportunity to play, and he’s playing at a high level.
“He played last year at a high level when you look at being healthy. So, it’s good to see him playing at this high level.”
Exum is averaging 4.8 points and 2.3 rebounds in 10.6 minutes this season while shooting a robust 50.8 percent from the field.
“When you look at the pace, he’s playing his role in being on that second group playing with (Kyrie Irving) and Luka (Doncic),” Kidd said. “He’s a high IQ guy who understands how to play the game, and he helps us on both ends, offensively and defensively.”
While playing in Europe, Exum said he learned how every possession matters, how to protect the basketball, how to control the game, when to attack 
and when to get a good shot.
“There’s a huge emphasis on the last two minutes here, but overseas that fourth quarter is physical,” Exum said. “It doesn’t matter — up 10, down 10 – it still feels like it’s a one-point or a tie game.”
As the Mavs (11-6) prepare to host Memphis (4-13) on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at American Airlines Center, Exum acknowledged that he’s in a good place as far as his career is concerned.
“I think that just goes with the maturity of developing, learning how to play basketball and how to take care of my body,” he said. “Obviously, I did it the hard way, but I wouldn’t take anything that happened back. I think that’s made me the player I am today and the person I am today.”
X: @DwainPrice
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