Boomers great wants more minutes for Dallas’ rejuvenated NBA star Dante Exum in Paris

Dante Exum is in the middle of an NBA Final series where he is playing low minutes, but Shane Heal says his time on the court will be the key to Boomers Olympics success in Paris.

Dante Exum will be a key to the Boomers success in Paris. Picture: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Rejuvenated NBA star Dante Exum must play maximum minutes for the Boomers to have any chance of shocking the world and winning a medal at the Paris Olympics.

That’s the view of Boomers greats who believe Exum needs to take centre stage at the Games, even it impacts the minutes of other players.

Four-time Olympian Shane Heal is one who wants to see the Dallas Mavericks guard play a major role for Australia in Paris, especially with the men in green and gold set to face NBA-loaded countries Canada and potentially Spain, Greece or Slovenia in the pool rounds.

“It’s vital Dante plays as many minutes as he can at the Olympics given how he has recently played on the international stage,” Heal said.

“I thought he should have played more minutes at last year’s World Cup. He was in-form, contributed in different ways and I thought at stages he just needed to play more.

“It’s a balancing act for (Boomers coach Brian) Goorjian because he has got so much talent, but sometimes when you’ve got talent key players end up sacrificing minutes where they should play.”

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Exum has played minimal minutes for a Mavericks side that finds itself in a 0-3 NBA Finals hole against Boston, but he is expected to feature prominently for the Boomers in Paris.

It comes as Heal urged Goorjian to lock down his best nine rotation players for the Games.

“Because it’s hard to play more than nine players and give them enough minutes,” he said.

“Sometimes if you play 10 or more players you don’t get any rhythm and you need rhythm in those tournaments.

“Goorj will know who he wants in his rotation and I’ll be fascinated to see who is in and who is on the outskirts of that.”

Goorjian faces a tough challenge to select the final 12-man roster for July’s Paris Games. The forward position alone is incredibly competitive, with the likes of Joe Ingles, Jack White, Xavier Cooks and Nick Kay all competing for a position.

He told Code Sports at least one NBA player will miss out on selection, which is a testament to the squad’s growing depth.

Goorjian confirmed Exum is a lock and a player primed to star for the Boomers as the team’s secondary ball handler behind starting guard Josh Giddey.

“Dante is a big part of our plans and an integral piece,” Goorjian said about Exum, who threw down an epic dunk in Game 3 against Boston.

“He is a key for us at the World Cup and that will continue in Paris.

“His role at the Cup and playing more minutes wasn’t discussed, but what has been discussed is that Dante can be a second ball carrier.

“He is big and he is in discussions a lot as one of the better players from the World Cup campaign.”

Aussie Dante Exum has impressed throughout the post-season run for the Dallas Mavericks. Photo: Sam Hodde / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP.

Exum’s Dallas side will have to defy history to keep their NBA championship dreams alive.

No team has ever comeback from a 0-3 deficit, leaving the Mavs in a difficult position heading into Saturday’s Game 4 at home.

Regardless, Heal has been impressed with Exum’s career transformation from fearing his NBA days were over due to injury to playing in the Finals just a few years later.

“His time in Europe via Spain and Serbia really helped him,” he said.

“It does that sometimes when you go and play another style, in a different country and then you go back to the NBA and it starts to get a bit easier for you compared to what you have to do as a star player in Europe.”

Heal has high hopes for the Boomers to build on their bronze medal-winning performance in Tokyo in Paris.

He does, however, want the public to understand how hard it is to medal on the world stage.

“We’ve got nine NBA players and because of the talent people just assume that automatically equates to a medal,” he said.

“That doesn’t just happen and the Boomers must win some really big games consistently to get another medal.”

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Originally published as Boomers great wants more minutes for Dallas’ rejuvenated NBA star Dante Exum in Paris