Jazz G Kris Dunn Stakes Claim to be Permanent Fixture in Salt Lake City
The Utah Jazz have a handful of players that emerged as permanent fixtures in Year 1 of CEO Danny Ainge’s rebuild. Most notably, Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, and Ochai Agbaji are names that have been rumored not to be available in potential trade talks.
Meanwhile, other players helped their status with stellar performances on the court, but their future with the Jazz remains unclear. The player that may have the widest range of outcomes moving forward could be point guard Kris Dunn.
Dunn came into the league as a blue-chip prospect after becoming a consensus All-American and two-time Big East player of the Year for Providence. He was a high lottery pick in the 2016 NBA draft selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves, but his career has fallen short of the lofty expectations coming out of college.
The journeyman has played for five NBA teams in a span of seven years, with his most recent stint before coming to Salt Lake City with the Portland Trail Blazers, where he averaged 7.6 ppg while dishing out 5.6 assists.
Due to the trade that saw point guard Mike Conley leave town paired with the Collin Sexton injury, Utah added Dunn as what appeared to be a bandaid to help the Jazz finish the season. Fast forward to five months after the trade, and Dunn is now in the conversation for being the starting point guard in Year 2 of the Will Hardy reign.
Dunn reflected on his mindset when he first joined the Jazz in his end-of-season presser.
“Oh yeah, for sure, that was one of my goals, but like I said before, I didn’t go in there stressing about I’m gonna get back on this year,” Dunn said back in April. “I just knew if I put the right amount of work in, keep the faith in my abilities and just play the right way and, more importantly, have fun with it down in G league and a, you know, we had a great group, great coaching staff, organization, and I think that everything just gelled well for me, and in due time it all just panned out for me.”
In 22 games with the Jazz, Dunn averaged 13.2 ppg while dishing out 5.6 assists. Those are respectable numbers, but where he really stood out was on the defensive side of the ball.
The Jazz have some dynamic scorers who could end up claiming the starting point guard job in Sexton and No. 16 overall pick Keyonte George, but the concerns about the resistance they offer defensively are real. If playing defense becomes the No. 1 priority in securing minutes on the court, Dunn may very well be the day-one starter.
Hardy is very aware of Utah’s defensive deficiencies. In fact, he didn’t pull punches when speaking on the matter in his post-season interview.
“There were times where our man-to-man defense was horrendous,” Hardy noted.
Currently, Dunn is signed through 2023-24 in a contract that doesn’t become guaranteed until October 23. It’s a given that he’ll make the roster, but considering the log jam at both guard positions, being in the rotation is no sure thing. Either way, the Jazz front office may have made a mistake not signing Dunn to a long-term deal.
That said, offering a skill set that his competition lacks bodes well for the former lottery pick. George may be the popular pick to claim the starting job eventually, but he'll first have to prove that he can defend NBA talent. Until George can show that’s in the cards, Dunn gives the Jazz their best chance of winning out of the gates.
But will the Jazz prioritize youth and development over a player that is a proven commodity but may not have as much room to grow? It’s a storyline Jazz fans will be watching closely as we approach the 2023-24 season.
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