A point guard that could be sliding down the depth chart for the Chicago Bulls this season could also be on the trade block with Kris Dunn.
There were bright spots and full spots for the Chicago Bulls four games into this five-game preseason slate. The Bulls are coming off their first win of the preseason to cap last weekend with a 105-91 road win at the Air Canada Centre over the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 13. The final game of the preseason schedule for the Bulls this year is set to come against the Atlanta Hawks at home at the United Center on Oct. 16.
The preseason finale against the Hawks will bring a lull in game action for the Bulls until the Oct. 23 regular season opener on the road at the Spectrum Center against the Charlotte Hornets. But the Bulls have to focus on building momentum against the Hawks until that time arrives to open up the regular season against the Hornets.
However, one player worth following for the Bulls throughout the early portion of the upcoming regular season and for the last game of the preseason is fourth-year point guard Kris Dunn. While he got a good amount of playing time throughout the preseason, he hasn’t proved a whole lot.
Dunn started in two of the four preseason games for the Bulls thus far. In those four outings total, he posted 6.5 points per game, 3.5 assists, 2.75 steals, and 4.25 rebounds. Two of those numbers are very impressive. But the worst number for Dunn thus far was his assist-to-turnover ratio. He’s averaging those 3.5 assists per game compared to 4.0 turnovers. That is a pretty terrible ratio.
The last two seasons saw Dunn post one of the worst assist-to-turnover ratios among the usual starting point guards around the NBA. He had around a 2.25 assist-to-turnover ratio for the last two seasons combined. Compared to the efficiency posted by Tomas Satoransky and Ryan Arcidiacono for the last two years, that’s not looking very good.
This offense ran under recently extended head coach Jim Boylen has to be more efficient this season. That’s where the fan base and coaching staff could see Dunn fitting out with a much improved rotation from the offseason.
For most of the offseason, the trade discussions swirled for Dunn more than about any other Bulls player. But the trade market dried up for any point guard that has declining value like Dunn once the main cycle of this free agency period ended. John Paxson and Gar Forman are very likely to enter the regular season with Dunn still on the roster.
At this point, it seems like GarPax is planning on keeping Dunn around at least until December or until the trade deadline. His trade value could increase as the season moves along, and he’s clearly still valuable on the defensive end of the floor. But his preseason outing in terms of turnovers is not looking good thus far.