Report: Dante Exum Declares For 2014 NBA Draft

Australian basketball wunderkind, Dante Exum, announced his decision to forego a year of college in America to declare for the 2014 NBA Draft this June, reports ESPN. Exum has been talked about among the top of the 2014 NBA Draft, but he wasn’t officially available until he signed with an agent.

After meeting with eight different agencies in Melbourne over the last month, the Exum family made their choice on Tuesday morning. Dante has agreed to sign with Rob Pelinka and Brandon Rosenthal of Landmark Sports Agency, who also represent Kobe Bryant, James Harden, Andre Iguodala and Andre Drummond. That’s some heady company for an 18-year-old many expect to be selected within the top five choices this June.

“We are excited to be working with Landmark Sports,” Exum and his parents, Cecil and Desiree, said in a statement to ESPN. “Our family felt The Landmark Team represented our style and manner of treating people, and in doing businesses. We also all shared a common commitment to achieving excellence in all things. The fit is just great and we are really pleased to now begin the work.

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“We are thrilled and honored to be working with Dante and his family,” Pelinka said in a 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.”

Exum, a 6-6, 190-pound point guard, passed for 15 dimes to lead his high school team, Lake Ginninderra, to the national schools basketball title in Australia last week. Scouts love his athleticism (there’s something new), but his outside shot still needs some work. Exum blew up at the Nike Hoop Summit this April, and he performed laudably at the FIBA U-19 nationals this summer, where he scored 33 points against Spain in the quarterfinals and 28 against Lithuania in the bronze-medal game.