Three Boomers that deserve more action at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Barely four months have passed since the 2023 FIBA World Cup, but some players are putting forward strong campaigns for a bigger role with the Australian Boomers at Paris next year.

Australia endured a challenging 2023 FIBA World Cup campaign, where the boys in green and gold fell short of a quarter-final berth and crashed out in the group stages. At that time, there were questions for certain players not having received enough playing opportunities, and with the 2023-24 season of club basketball now underway, that argument has arguably grown stronger.

Here are three names that are making a case for increased court time at the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.

Credit: FIBA

Danté Exum

Even before his recent breakout games as a Dallas Mavericks starter, Danté Exum was arguably Australia’s most underutilised guard at the 2023 World Cup. The 28 year old was coming off a career-best season with European giants Partizan Belgrade, where he made the All-ABA (Adriatic) League team and won an ABA League title - Partizan’s first in ten years. In his two year foray into European basketball, Exum completely changed his game, becoming a knockdown shooter and even a reliable floor general at times.

Exum’s European form earned him an NBA recall, and after a slow start with the Mavs, injuries to Kyrie Irving and Josh Green presented a golden opportunity. At the time of writing, Exum is averaging an impressive 9.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists in the month of December (11 games), while shooting 61% from the field and 51% from downtown (3.5 attempts per game). The Melbourne native has averaged thirty-plus minutes during this span, which is a far cry from his early season struggles. The two-way talent often had to settle for garbage time minutes, before encountering an abrupt change of fortune in December.

But it would be negligent to describe Exum as lucky.

He has patiently waited for an opportunity, and seized the moment as soon as it arrived. The Aussie has been so impressive that Jason Kidd - the Mavericks’ head coach - won’t be benching him upon Irving’s return. Compatriot Josh Green has been unfortunate to watch Exum’s growth from the sidelines, but it’s a major boon for Aussie hoops to have two key rotational players on one team. From a Boomers point of view, coach Brian Goorjian has a tough decision to make, after installing Josh Giddey as Australia’s primary floor general in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Giddey excelled on an individual level, averaging 19.4 points and 6.0 assists, but Exum offers a more versatile skillset. It’s difficult to find many holes in Exum’s game, as he offers a blend of outside shooting, perimeter defence, above-the-rim athleticism and a killer first step. Giddey’s shooting and defensive abilities don’t measure up well against Exum, and although the former is one of the NBA’s most gifted playmakers, he needs the ball in his hands to succeed. In the 2023-24 NBA season, Giddey has seen his numbers fall across the board, in the terms of points, rebounds, assists and field goal percentage. With the rise of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams in Oklahoma City, Giddey’s usage and numbers have taken a hit. On the other hand, Exum has had no problems playing alongside star teammate Luka Dončić, despite the latter’s tendency to run a heliocentric offence.

It’s difficult to see Patty Mills being displaced as a starting guard, given his credentials in the green and gold. But the 35 year old is approaching the end of his career, and it may be time for another guard to shoulder the offensive load. We haven’t seen Exum run the offence in Dončić’s absence, so any assist figure is going to undersell the former’s passing ability. What we do know is that Exum is highly adaptable, achieving his breakout month of basketball while sharing the ball. When you add Exum’s three ball and defence to the equation, he can go from playing on the ball to playing off it in a pinch, so there’s every chance an Exum-Mills back court could succeed.

At 6’5 tall with a 6’9 wingspan, Exum has the length and athleticism to guard any position from the one through to the three spot, and even the four spot in short bursts. Given that Mills is a smaller guard and doesn’t quite have the same reputation on defence, we have yet another reason to pair him with Exum. If Goorjian can also generate lineups where Exum plays alongside Matisse Thybulle, Dyson Daniels or Josh Green, Australia could feature multiple highly switchable defenders on the floor at once.

If Exum’s breakout NBA season (thus far) is rewarded with an increased role at the 2024 Paris Olympics, it’s difficult to visualise where veterans like Joe Ingles and Chris Goulding may be left in the rotation. But with his current level of form, the Mavericks guard has every right to be a Boomers starter. While acknowledging the recency bias, he has been Australia’s best NBA player over the past month, and it would be a waste of his two-way brilliance to limit him to under 20 minutes - like we saw at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Credit: FIBA

Duop Reath

The stage was set for Duop Reath at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. A pre-tournament injury to starting centre Jock Landale had left a sizeable void to fill, and Reath was one of Australia’s standouts in the warmup matches. So when the 27 year old ultimately only averaged 14.6 minutes at the World Cup, many onlookers were left scratching their heads. And it’s not like Reath wasn’t productive either, posting averages of 8.6 points and 2.4 rebounds on 81% shooting from the field. He even chipped in with six three-point makes across five appearances, on just eight attempts.

Reath put together an impressive 2023 NBA Summer League campaign with the Portland Trail Blazers, and was expected to be the heir apparent centre when Landale went down. His form didn’t end up translating to the Boomers role he was presumably hoping for, but Portland came back with a two-way contract offer, meaning Reath’s NBA hopes were still alive. The 6’9 big man needed to make just one G League Appearance - where he dropped 37 points and nine rebounds - before the Trail Blazers called him back to the main roster. An injury to Robert Williams III helped his cause, but regardless the Aussie remained a favourite to earn an NBA debut sooner rather than later.

Much like Exum, Reath has made the most of his opportunities off the bench, and improved throughout the early course of this season. Throughout the month of December, he is averaging 10.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.4 three point makes per game, while shooting 46% from the field. When regular starter Deandre Ayton was absent for Portland’s recent clash against Sacramento, Reath stepped up and received a season-high 32 minutes. The Tokyo Olympian could not have enjoyed a better outing in his first 30+ minute game, posting 25 minutes and nine rebounds in a 130-113 win.

Reath flashed his offensive versatility against the Kings, making buckets in a variety of ways. For his first score, the big man put the ball on the floor against Kings star Domantas Sabonis, and burned him for a nifty left hand layup. Reath followed up that play with another left-handed finish, before showcasing his above-the-rim athleticism for an easy transition dunk.

But the biggest story about Reath has been his improving jump shot, and that was on display against Sacramento. He drilled three of six attempts from downtown, thus lifting his season three-point clip to a respectable 36% value. To cap off an impressive game on the offensive end, Reath corralled five offensive rebounds, which was more than Sabonis’ three. Sabonis was no slouch with 34 points and 12 total rebounds of his own, but Reath went toe to toe with the three-time All-Star in a confidence-boosting display.

Defensively Reath has plenty of room for improvement, but he certainly has the size and athleticism to guard big men, and the capability to switch onto wings in a pinch.

Trail Blazers head coach Chauncy Billups has made defence a point of focus for Reath, as stated in an interview after that breakout 25 point/nine rebound game.

“I've been on him about needing to rebound and being better defensively. Also telling him, ‘If you're not shooting when you're out there, I don't know what advantage you give us. You've got to see what you got. You've got the opportunity; you've got to shoot it.' So, he took full advantage of it,” Billups said. Reath also received significantly more playing time than Moses Brown, who started but logged just fourteen minutes in Ayton’s absence.

As Reath becomes more indispensable in Portland’s big man rotation, Goorjian will have to revisit his role on the Boomers. Landale and Kay have runs on the board for Australia, but the latter can’t match Reath’s NBA credentials, whereas the former has struggled for playing time behind Alperen Şengün in Houston. It might be time for Australia to adopt a three-pronged big man rotation, if Reath’s recent form is anything to go by. It would be a shame to imagine Reath’s outside shooting, offensive rebounding and athleticism languishing on the Boomers bench.

Credit: FIBA

Dyson Daniels

As one of Australia’s youngest and most inexperienced players, it wasn’t a major surprise to see Dyson Daniels starved of playing time at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The 20 year old played a total of just ten minutes throughout the entire tournament, as Australia crashed out in the group stages. Daniels was stuck behind a long list of talented guards and swingmen, including Giddey, Mills, Exum, Green, Ingles and Thybulle. Although he brought elite perimeter defence to the table, Daniels didn’t quite have a point of difference to earn playing time over the likes of Exum, Green and Thybulle, who all have a reputation on the defensive end.

Daniels can function as a primary playmaker, but Giddey was already firmly entrenched in that role. And without a reliable jump shot in his arsenal, Daniels simply wasn’t ready for Goorjian’s core back court rotation. But in his second year as an NBA player, Daniels now appears to have moved up the New Orleans Pelicans’ back court hierarchy. Injuries to CJ McCollum and Trey Murphy III afforded the Aussie a run of playing time in November - a month where he averaged 28.5 minutes per game.

Throughout November Daniels flashed his all-round skillset, putting up 8.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. Daniels isn’t known for being an aggressive offensive player, but has nonetheless increased his shot volume this season. It should be noted that Daniels’ playing time has jumped from 17 to 23 minutes per game this season, but the shot volume has increased out of proportion. He is currently attempting 5.8 field goal attempts per game in 2023-24 (up from 3.5 last year), which includes 2.5 three point attempts per game. The shots haven’t quite been falling, as Daniels is currently shooting at a 27% clip from downtown, and 41% from the field, but he has shown promise with his in-between game.

Daniels’ limitations have primarily been at the rim, where he has a 54% shooting percentage (down from 64% last season), and beyond the arc - with his aforementioned three point percentage. But between three and ten feet, Daniels has been highly effective, making 54% of his 46 looks from that distance. The 20 year old is known to pull up for floaters regularly, and often goes for a long layup over taller defenders. This floater gives him a point of difference over many of his peers, although the three ball and inside scoring remain a work in progress.

Daniels’ all-around game is also underpinned by his playmaking and rebounding. At 6’7 tall with a 6’10 wingspan, Daniels has elite size for a guard, making him a weapon on the glass. He also has impressive passing vision, often finding cutting big men in the paint, as well as open shooters on the perimeter. Once you then add Daniels’ defence to the equation, he becomes one of Australia’s top two-way players. The lanky guard is averaging 1.4 steals per game, and is a regular pest in the passing lanes. He is also highly switchable thanks to his size, wingspan and athleticism, much like Exum.

Daniels’ versatility gives Goorjian another guard to call upon, when he needs a defensive specialist or a secondary playmaker. The 20 year old was virtually unused at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, although with his growth in the NBA, there should be a role for him off the bench. Daniels functions best when surrounded by shooters, such as Mills, Ingles, Kay, Reath, Green or Exum to give a few examples. Goorjian has plenty of talented guards at his disposal, but if he can find a way to unlock Daniels in an optimal lineup, the Boomers will be better for it.