Kris Dunn ReBoots With The Bulls
By Ben Standig, Special to BIGEAST.com
LAS VEGAS - Kris Dunn arrived for a second consecutive NBA Summer League. The vibes were completely different.
Last July the former Providence star and two-time BIG EAST Player of the Year was one of the league’s exciting new faces. The Timberwolves selected the physically imposing point guard fifth overall in the 2016 NBA Draft. Dunn would join big man Karl-Anthony Towns, scoring forward Andrew Wiggins and athletic wing Zach LaVine as part of Minnesota’s young core. Those pieces could turn the perennial lottery team into an annual playoff contender.
Minnesota still possess that hope. They just no longer posses Dunn. In late June, hours before the 2017 Draft, the Timberwolves acquired All-Star Jimmy Butler from the Chicago Bulls. The return package included their supposed point guard of the future.
Being traded isn’t always a negative. Sure, one team thinks they can live without you, but another enters with open arms. In this case, Dunn joined the Bulls following a rough rookie season. In general, thinking the fifth overall pick won’t work out following a single season, even a disappointing one, defies logic. Yet many NBA analysts didn’t love Chicago’s haul in part because of fears with Dunn.
More effective than pure with his shot at Providence, Dunn was simply clanky in Minnesota. He shot only 37.7 percent from the field and a disappointing 21 of 73 (28.8) on 3-point tries.
Dunn didn’t land in Las Vegas this July feted. He arrived overlooked -- and with something to prove.
“I just want to get on the court. I just want to play,” Dunn told reporters.
The Bulls provide Dunn with soft landing for a needed do-over. Chicago made the playoffs last season, but the loss of Butler and other veterans has the six-time champions thinking long-term.
“That we've all got to work on our games, that we've all got to develop,” Dunn said about Chicago’s situation. “The other team I was with, the Timberwolves, there are so many talented players. This team, we're trying to get to that level. Everybody's trying to work hard. Everybody's trying to prove themselves. We just need to develop that chemistry.”
Though the 6-foot-4 guard’s athleticism stands out even amid NBA supermen and his point guard skills are worthy of minutes, those shooting percentages won’t play in the modern NBA.
“All my life I've been getting to the hole. I didn't have to shoot in high school I didn't have to shoot in college,” Dunn said. “I'm more athletic. But in the NBA, people are gonna realize that. They'll be ready for the drive. So you've got to work on your shot.”
Those rookie struggles connect with past success.
“Last Summer League, I was coming out of college. I had the most confidence coming in. I was going out there thinking the shot would go in,” Dunn said before explaining the issue with such thinking. “I was shooting the ball with overconfidence. But now I'm trying to work on my mechanics. Trying to work on my 3, trying to work on my midrange, and make it at a consistent pace. When you shoot it, you should know it's going in.”
One similarity between both of Dunn’s Summer League appearances involved a limited engagement. He played just one game in 2016 after a concussion ended his rookie version. Following a 75-55 opening-game loss to Atlanta on July 10, Dunn left the team for “family reasons.”
The hope is the comparison ends there.
Dunn averaged only 17 minutes per game in Minnesota playing behind established veteran Ricky Rubio. With Chicago, the backcourt minutes are wide open.
Zach LaVine, also acquired in the Butler trade, is one of the primary building blocks. He just won’t open the season healthy following a February knee injury. Point guards Jerian Grant and Cameron Payne, like Dunn, are former first-round selections yet to establish their game on the pro level.
Dunn flashed his all-court game during three full seasons in the Big East. He reunited with 2015 co-Big East Player of the Year and NBA hopeful Ryan Arcidiacono, who joined the Bulls for mini-camp and the Summer League.
“Kris and I are always friends,” Arcidiacono said. “We bonded together the last week. He’s a big-time jokester and it feels good to see a former BIG EAST guy.”
As for Dunn’s attitude following the trade, the former Villanova standout described his former college rival as, “An energetic kid and he’s willing to work.”
That’s certainly the message Dunn emphasized before his Summer League adventure was cut short once again.
“That's just been me my whole life. That's just how I play. I like to play with tension, I like to play with aggression,” Dunn said. “I think it's because I played football, that contact, that's what I try to give them.”
After a difficult rookie season, Dunn is aiming to show the doubters he’s also rather good at basketball.