How Damian Dunn Fits With Pitt

Damian Dunn could be a perfect fit for the Pitt Panthers if his teammates take some steps forward.

PITTSBURGH -- Jeff Capel put it pretty plainly after star freshman Bub Carrington declared for the 2024 NBA Draft and left the Pitt Panthers with a massive hole to fill in their backcourt.

"Well, we know we'll need a guard," the Pitt head coach said with a laugh.

And get a guard he did, landing Houston transfer Damian Dunn out of the transfer portal less than two weeks after Carrington made his announcement. Okay, so Pitt has landed the one veteran guard they needed to keep the position stocked for the coming season. But what exactly are the Panthers getting in Dunn? On paper, it seems like a pretty good fit.

Start with the basics - Dunn is a fifth-year senior who started at Temple, where he was an offensive engine for some bad teams, then took a step up to a Houston team that was ranked among the top 10 for the entire season and was relegated to a smaller role.

After spending all of his college career either starring for competitive teams or taking a backseat on a national title contender, Pitt offers a healthy medium - he will be a major contributor, albeit on a team that isn't considered a serious Final Four or national championship contender. Dunn has yet to play on a competitive team that has room for him to flourish but the Panthers - down two of their top-3 scorers from a year ago but returning some All-ACC caliber talent, can give him that.

Because of how different his situations at Temple and Houston were to what he's facing at Pitt, Dunn basic stats don't offer much insight. He was a volume shooter for a couple of seaons with the Owls before having to operate as a reserve on a stacked squad with the Cougars. Whether he comes off the bench or starts, Dunn will play a major role for the Panthers as an offensive contributor while not sitting at the top of every scouting report and that's not a role he's really ever played in during his career.

Dunn has all the tools to flourish in such a setting. He was a strong shooter on corner 3-pointers last season (41% from the left side) and sat in the 77th percentile of catch and shoot effective field goal percentage (55%). So while his traditional shooting stats show an inconsistent shooter from outside, a deeper dive shows that Dunn is effective when the shot profile fits his skills.

At 6'5 and 205 pounds, Dunn has shown he can be a tough shot maker at times but he struggled shooting off the dribble and scoring in isolation last season. This is where Jaland Lowe and Ishmael Leggett can step in and step up as playmakers to get Dunn the ball in spots most advantageous to his skill set.

This is all contingent upon steps forward from Lowe and Leggett. They'll need to be complete players - outstanding scorers and ball-handlers that can control the pace of the game and command an offense - in order for the Dunn addition to work to its fullest potential. But those steps forward should be expected and Jeff Capel wouldn't have recruited a guard with Dunn's skillset if he didn't expect Lowe and Leggett to reach that level.

The Panthers appear to have their guard position more or less figured out going into next season. There could be another addition here or there but the impact players are all in line and this backcourt has reloaded with Dunn supporting the stars in Lowe and Leggett.

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