The Bulls weren’t quite sure what they were getting when they traded for Kris Dunn over the summer.
GarPax had an idea of what they *could* have been getting after heavily scouting the Providence product during his college days, but his disappointing rookie season in Minnesota cast doubts over his potential.
In the early going of his second season, he looks more like a top 5 pick than the lost rookie.
Since Thanksgiving, the youngster has been averaging 15 points and 7.2 assists. According to Basketball Reference, he has assisted on 37% of the Bulls baskets while he was on the floor. After adding a 20 point 12 assist game in Tuesday’s road win over the Bucks to his resume, the excitement surrounding him continues to grow.
Dunn drives and scores on Giannis. pic.twitter.com/zj8QzuRCwM
— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD2_) December 27, 2017
Not only is he creating for others, but he’s shooting the ball better, attacking the pick and roll better and taking better care of the basketball.
ESPN’s Zach Lowe had this to say of Dunn:
“Dunn is launching with confidence when defenders give him the Rondo treatment. He’s getting better at leading his defenders into picks — a must-have bit of craft. He fakes away from screens with a cruel shoulder shimmy, gets his defender leaning that way, and then zooms back toward the pick — with his defender trailing, flat-footed, about to get slammed.
Once he’s established the threat of that crisscross, Dunn hits opponents with the opposite counter — feint toward screens, and then jet away from them.
He’s threading nifty pocket passes, and reading defenses with a new sophistication.”
His quick improvement has been important for multiple reasons. For one, he was a four-year college player; thus, he doesn’t have as much time to figure things out as a 20-year-old second-year player would have. Secondly, in a rebuild like the Bulls are currently going through, no one is safe. He needs to produce to assure himself a spot in this organization for the long haul. So far he has been earning his keep.
There’s a long way to go for Dunn and the Bulls to be relevant again, but in what’s becoming a point guard driven league, it’s really exciting that the Bulls may have found their point guard of the future.
