Dante Exum has turned himself into a solid defender

Dennis Lindsey apparently told Dante Exum something a few years ago that changed Exum’s life for the better.

“I remember when I first came in the league, Dennis Lindsey, who is actually with the Mavs now, he said to me, you’re a horrible defender,” Exum said on Friday. “So, I took that to heart and that’s something I wanted to focus on.

“I want to be the guy that if you walk on the court and there’s a guy that’s dominant offensively, I want to be the guy (who says), ‘I will take him.’ “

At the time of that conversation between Exum and Lindsey, Exum was playing for Utah, and Lindsey was the general manager for the Jazz. It was in that role that Lindsey made Exum the No. 5 overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft.

Nowadays, Lindsey is in an advisory role with the Mavericks, while Exum signed a free agent contract with the Mavs this past summer. The 6-5, 214-pound guard played for the Jazz from ’14-’19, and for the Cleveland Cavaliers from ’19-21 before spending the past two seasons playing in Europe.

Defense, meanwhile, has become the main ingredient in Exum’s game. So much so that he details a 2018 playoff series where he more than held his own against then-Houston Rockets All-Star guard James Harden.

“I like the challenge,” Exum said. “I think for me I’ve never back down from a challenge. “Whether it’s something I wasn’t good at and I wanted to challenge myself to be good at, I think that was something with my defending.

“That’s why when I was playing in that series against James Harden, I think I was able to stop him — just to have the confidence to move my feet and play a bit harder.”

More than anything, Exum, 28, was very anxious to come back and show that he belongs in the NBA.

“I think for me it’s been a long journey,” Exum said. “Obviously, being in the NBA before and having kind of dealt with a lot of injuries, I felt like I’ve had the skills to be here. But proving my being healthy has kind of been the problem.

“But I think going over to Europe and spending the last two seasons there helped me tremendously learning their game and how they play and just kind of the importance of valuing possessions. I’m glad I was able to kind of fight my way back here, but I think it’s just staying the course, staying healthy and making sure every day I’m working on my game and in the areas that haven’t been a strong suit and making that a strong suit now.”

Exum offered his analysis on why he chose to sign with the Mavs in free agency.

“There were a few teams that were interested,” he said. “But I think the Mavs provided a unique opportunity. I think, definitely, the point guard where I’m trying to play, obviously them having Kyrie (Irving) and Luka (Doncic), it’s a lot of minutes taking up.

“But I think where my strong suits are in kind of pushing the ball and being fast, (being an) oversized point guard is…