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As Markelle Fultz slipped beneath a screen in the first half Wednesday night, it was Dante Exum's cue to pull up from 3-point range. Perhaps to the surprise of many of the fans who watched him shoot under 30 percent from deep last season, the shot sank.
It's the kind of shooting the Utah Jazz expect from a guard entering his fourth year in the NBA — and what Exum expects from himself.
"It's just about getting those reps up and getting the confidence to knock it down," he said earlier this week. "It's just a matter of locking in, and once I missed a shot, going back to the fundamentals of what I know."
But for Exum, Utah Summer League is about being placed in situations he has yet to experience at the NBA level, and using skills he hasn't shown before.
In Exum's season-exit interview, coach Quin Snyder and general manager Dennis Lindsey expressed that they wanted to see growth from the former fifth overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft. So far, Exum has tried to get that growth out of personal workouts in Anaheim, Calif., training sessions with Baron Davis in Salt Lake City, and now summer league as the rare fourth-year rotation player playing among rookies and long shots.
Coaches said they hoped Exum would "stand out," and on Wednesday night he certainly did: With 26 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and two turnovers (and shooting 3 for 5 from deep), he led the Jazz to a 100-94 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Did it motivate him to be playing against Fultz, the Sixers' top overall pick in the most recent draft? You bet.
"100 percent — that's just the competitive nature in me," he said. "Whoever it is, when I'm going against a point guard, I want to kind of get the upper hand."
It wasn't always perfect. Jazz summer league coach Alex Jensen lamented some portions of the game where the team "relaxed," allowing Philadelphia to recoup almost all of a 24-point lead the Jazz held at the game's largest margin.
Jensen was happy with much of Exum's effort offensively. Defensively, "it wasn't a full game," he said.
"He did a great job at times and then fell off," Jensen said. "Just hopefully we can just put together a full game and be consistent throughout."
That's been Exum's goal throughout summer, a critical one for his future with the Jazz. Four years into their careers, lottery picks are expected to produce.
His partnership with Davis was set up through Snyder, he said, and he's tried to emulate things about the two-time All-Star's game, particularly the ability to cut into the paint and distribute.
At a series of pickup games, Exum was stunned by Davis' vision.
"I said to him after I played, 'Baron, you weren't even looking at me, and I was open and I knew the ball was coming to me,' " he said. "That's something I definitely want to develop, where if a guy is open on the court, they know that ball's coming to them if I have it."
With Gordon Hayward's departure in free agency, the Jazz will need more scoring from the wings. Exum's display against the Sixers is some of what the doctor ordered — 3-pointers, driving layups and the occasional pull-up — if he can replicate it when the season comes around.
Exum said he'll miss Hayward, but the Jazz are "still good without him," and he wants a role in keeping it that way.
"When you lose an All-Star, that opens up a lot," he said. "Hopefully I can come off those on-balls and start to be more aggressive, and start to take on that role a bit more."
Twitter: @kylegoon