With the logjam the Chicago Bulls have at the point guard position, Kris Dunn willy likely not be with the team by tip-off, but where will he land?
Coming out of Providence College as a top-five pick and the second best point guard in the class only behind 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons, Kris Dunn had very high expectations. He even drew some comparisons to Wizards star guard John Wall. Dunn’s size, defensive instinct, playmaking ability, and athleticism all pointed to him becoming at the bare minimum a far-above-average starting point guard in the NBA. What should the Chicago Bulls do with him?
The Bulls, in particular, were rumored to be very high on Dunn ahead of the 2016 NBA Draft, as the team was rumored to be looking for a new option at the point guard position. When Derrick Rose was shipped to New York the day before the draft, it seemed that Chicago was primed to make a move to trade up for the Connecticut native. However, John Paxson was unable to snag Dunn in the draft, and the Minnesota Timberwolves grabbed him at five.
The next major trade that the Bulls made was to send Jimmy Butler to Minnesota. This time, they were finally able to land Dunn. Indeed, Dunn had a disappointing rookie season as a Wolf. However, Bulls’ fans knew as well as anyone that Tom Thibodeau does not treat his rookies too well. Kris was viewed as a major part of the deal and the starting point guard of the future for this newly rebuilding Chicago group.
His first season as a Bull and second in the NBA was extremely promising. He averaged 13-4-6 to go along with 2 steals per contest, which was one of the top marks in the NBA. His athleticism and gritty play fit well in the blue-collar culture Chicago has always embodied, and all signs pointed to Dunn becoming a major piece in this rebuild.
Unfortunately for Dunn and for the Bulls, his third professional season was not one to ride home about. He took steps back in nearly every statistical category and played a mere 46 games. Meanwhile, the rest of the young Bulls seemed to drastically improve, leaving Dunn in the dust and subsequently out of the picture in the Chicago young core.
In my mind, Dunn had certainly lost the starting point guard position going forward, as the team was more than likely to address the position in the draft or in free agency. I did believe that Dunn had a place on the Bulls roster as a very quality, young bench piece, but then the team decided to re-sign Ryan Arcidiacono, draft Coby White, and trade for Tomas Satoransky. With four point guards on the roster, and three of them being very recently signed players, the writing appears to be on the wall for Kris Dunn.