Chicago Bulls point guard Kris Dunn is coming off the best year of his career. What should the Bulls expect from him in the 2018-19 season?
The Chicago Bulls need a good point guard and they need one now. They’re a young, inexperienced team that could end up being a success story or could end up being a cataclysmic failure.
Kris Dunn can be that point guard. He can be the guy that they need.
We all know about the struggles he had as a rookie, but that’s in the past. Now, what we have to look at is a 52 game season with the Bulls where he made some incredible improvements in his game.
For starters, his jump shot improved drastically. His biggest upward leaps in efficiency came in the mid-range.
During his rookie year, Dunn made 26.9 percent of his field goal attempts that were 10-16 feet from the basket. Last season, he shot 38.7 percent from the same range. Now going back to his rookie year in Minnesota again, Dunn made 34.8 percent of his shots that were inside the 3-point line but beyond 16 feet from the basket. For the Bulls last season, he connected on 46.0 percent of his shots from that same distance.
Dunn’s 3-point shooting saw a slight uptick in efficiency, going from 28.8 percent during his rookie season, to 32.1 percent during his sophomore season. It’s nice that there was some improvement there, but with the ever-increasing importance of the 3-point shot in the NBA (especially for a guard), Dunn needs to show major improvements from behind the arc during the 2018-19 season.
When asked during his press conference on Media Day about his shooting, Dunn had some confident words for Bulls fans to chew on.
"“I ain’t gonna be scared to shoot,” Dunn said. “Simple as that.”"
I love that confidence from Dunn. You almost have to, right?
But shooting isn’t the only thing Dunn needs to improve on. He also needs to improve around the basket. He’s a decent finisher, but he could definitely be better. With his size and athleticism, he should be one of the better finishing point guards in the league. I’m hoping (and assuming) that that will all come with time, though.
While Dunn steadily improves on his skill-set, the one thing he can immediately start doing is leading this young team in the right direction.
When asked about leadership on Media Day, Dunn noted that it would be a team effort, but also knows how important he is as a leader.
"“For me, I just take it in,” Dunn said. “You know, I just soak up any information that I can to become a better leader for the group, because I am the point guard and if anybody else steps up and wants to be the leader, we all have to be respectful and listen and be that team.”"
Dunn also made an interesting point when he compared point guards and quarterbacks. He knows how important the point guard position is to a basketball team, and it’s nice to see him stepping into that role.
"“You’re going to see more of a vocal leader,” Dunn said. “You know, I think you need that to be a point guard. I mean, it’s almost like you’re playing football. I mean, I’m the quarterback, so you know, I gotta make sure everybody’s in the right spots and because I feel like I’m the best defender on the team, I gotta do it on both ends of the floor.”"
Kris Dunn is poised to have an extremely successful season as the Chicago Bulls’ quarterback. If Dunn continues his successful rise in the NBA, the Bulls might be able to sneak into the playoffs sooner than most expected.
Projected 2018-19 stat line: 15.0 PPG / 8.0 APG / 5.5 RPG / 44.0% FG / 35.0% 3FG