Chicago Bulls guard Kris Dunn has been in the center of a lot of trade rumors in his young career. Here’s why the Bulls shouldn’t give up on him just yet.
The 2016 5th overall pick had been on the radar of Gar Forman and John Paxson since his days at Providence, as there were plenty of rumors circulating on draft night that the Chicago Bulls were interested in moving on from Derrick Rose and trading up for Kris Dunn.
GarPax finally got Dunn on draft night, but one year later in the Jimmy Butler deal.
Since arriving in Chicago, he has significantly improved. This season, Dunn is averaging 12.1 points, 6.3 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, while shooting 44.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from deep. He has continued to be a great defender and passer, and his shot has improved drastically. Dunn has remained one of the more consistent players on this rollercoaster of a squad.
The Bulls have one glaring hole in their lineup: small forward, which is exactly where they need to look to improve via the draft. Guys like R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish, or Nassir Little should be what the front office is looking for.
Kris has certainly not been a problem this year. His job is not to be a high volume scorer, that is what Lauri Markkanen and Zach LaVine are paid to do. Dunn is paid to distribute and play defense, and he has excelled at this in his time in Chicago, while also showing serious offensive strides.
Even if the front office may be intrigued by a point guard in this upcoming draft, such as Ja Morant out of Murray State, why not keep Dunn as a bench piece? There is no possible way he could cost more than $14 million or so, and I do not believe the Bulls will be significant free-agent players this summer, so why not pay him? Worst case scenario, the team doesn’t extend him this summer, and he has a full season before he is an RFA, where the Bulls can still match any offer.
Furthermore, what kind of trade value could Dunn have if the Bulls were to test the market? Is he really going to get a solid return for the team? My thought is no. Sure, maybe GarPax would be able to pick up a first-rounder outside of the lottery, but that doesn’t seem like a good value for a former 5th overall pick, who is still only 24 years old and not on an expiring contract.
Unless the front office has something up their sleeve to pull the trigger on a big time player at the deadline (which I would be shocked to see happen), and are planning on using Dunn as part of this sort of deal, the return just simply is not going to be worth giving him up.
Kris has been a very solid player for this team, and with another year left on his rookie deal, there is absolutely no reason to give up on him yet. It is difficult to run an offense when the coach has no offensive scheme, yet Kris has still been able to make a little something out of nothing. It is much too early to give up on such a talented young player like Kris Dunn.