Suns shouldn’t shy away from Kris Dunn
Jun 4, 2016, 1:05 PM | Updated: Jun 5, 2016, 10:35 am
(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
The lead up to the NBA Draft is an exercise in trying to dictate issues you have no control over. Executives and agents make an attempt to control and release information in an effort to conform the proceedings to their liking.
It looks like the Phoenix Suns are dealing with one of these situations right now as they sit at the number-four pick in the first round.
Hearing Providence point guard Kris Dunn wants to go to Minnesota, will not work out for Phoenix or share medical records.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) June 3, 2016
As long as the Suns can get word through the grapevine Dunn’s medical records are fine — this doesn’t matter in the slightest.
If Phoenix feels the Providence guard is the best prospect available there’s no reason for them not to pick him.
Dunn is a 22-year-old kid trying to push himself to a different team and that’s perfectly fine. If the Suns draft him he would be under contract for at minimum four years, and really, he’s under team control for eight to nine before he can become an unrestricted free agent.
So a 22-year-old, whose dream has been to play in the NBA, is going to throw a fit instead of giving it his all?
Pretty simply, that’s not happening.
The other angle is the Suns shouldn’t take Dunn because he’s a point guard and they can’t add another one to the roster.
That idea is also incorrect.
Phoenix isn’t close enough to contending to be worried about positional fit and the problem is easily correctable anyway.
I’d argue I think higher of Eric Bledsoe’s game than anyone in this market, but he’s also 26 and has significant injury concerns.
Brandon Knight, who is only 24, still hasn’t proven he’s a consistent, effective NBA player.
The future of the Suns is 19-year-old shooting guard Devin Booker. The top priority of this offseason is for Phoenix to start shifting their plans around Booker’s timeline and no one else’s. Dunn’s skills are 100-percent compatible with Booker.
As much as I love Bledsoe, the sad reality is he probably doesn’t fit that plan.
I’d be looking to deal Knight regardless.
In the micro, yes, there are some issues about how Dunn would fit with Bledsoe and Knight that are real concerns.
In the macro, those issues and concerns don’t actually matter.
If Ben Simmons, Brandon Ingram and Dragan Bender are all off the board, Dunn is the most talented prospect left in the draft.
He does everything better besides shoot than Kentucky’s Jamal Murray and Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield, who both averaged more turnovers than assists last season, a bad sign for players transitioning from college to the NBA.
Jaylen Brown and Marquese Chriss fit a need at wing and power forward, but both have significantly more questions about their games than Dunn.
If Dunn is the right pick for the Suns at four, they can’t let the noise get in the way of doing what’s best for the team.