Kris Dunn: New Orleans Pelicans’ Debrief Discussions
What do you see as Dunn’s ceiling? Basement? What factors could determine the two in New Orleans?
Preston: Kris Dunn has a ceiling as high as any player in this draft. His explosiveness, size and agility can get any basketball fan pretty pumped.
Among his NBA comparisons are Rajon Rondo, Doc Rivers and even our own Jrue Holiday. Holiday was an explosive, albeit turnover prone point guard out of UCLA.
If Dunn can find a consistent shooting stroke hovering around 48 and 37 percent from three as he did in college, cut down on his turnovers and improve his mechanics on defense, his upside could carry him as high as a John Wall type level.
But Kris Dunn’s basement should look pretty familiar to fans of his game. Should he continue turning the ball over, make consistent mistakes on defense coupled with poor and inconsistent jump shooting, his career may never exceed Devin Harris type numbers. His tenacity often worked against him at Providence. “Trying to do to much” will not improve his longevity in a NBA team’s starting lineup.
An even worst case possible scenario would be any setback suffered by that torn labrum, but after the third surgery, Dunn recovered nicely, and showed little effect in his final season at Providence against Big East opponents.
Rick: The ceiling is scary high. A lot of Jrue Holiday comparisons have come into play, but he could even reach higher than that. If there was a solid NBA point guard currently to compare him to, it would be Kyle Lowry.
The great driving ability paired with strong shooting and a keen eye for the open man. Willing to run an up-tempo offense with athletic stars around him. Dunn’s ceiling can reach that if every bit of potential hits its mark.
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The basement is a bit scarier than most. He does have injury issues and has struggled to contain his aggression and stay consistent with his shooting. The first one that comes to mind is Sebastian Telfair. He’s highly toted as a prospect, but if he’s not able to figure out how to translate those skills to the NBA level, he could fall hard.
Still, it’s extremely hard to see him hit that basement. He already is on the right path to a great NBA career. However, his attitude is something to keep an eye on. He’s said already he does not want to be drafted by certain teams, which is an odd confidence level for an upcoming rookie.
Charles: I’ve seen a lot of John Wall comparisons and that seems to be right on line with what I think he could become. I doubt he ever develops the vision that John Wall possesses but he they are similar in the way the rely on their speed to get easy buckets in transition. I think he has the ability to become a better shooter than Wall however, so a ceiling of a better shooting worse passing Wall.
His basement could be pretty bad, if he never learns to shoot and struggles with the speed of the NBA game I see some Jonny Flynn. He’s really athletic but is fairly old and may struggle to improve bad habits in his game. I don’t think he’ll get that low as a player, someone he really reminds me of is Marcus Smart and I think Dunn will be closer to Smart than he is to Flynn or Wall.
Next: Kris Dunn wrap up