Kris Dunn of Providence is rated as the best point guard in this class, and his draft projections have him taken anywhere from third to sixth.
The Boston Celtics have the No. 3 pick (thanks to the Brooklyn Nets trade, the deal that keeps on giving) while the Phoenix Suns are fourth. Both of those teams will take a long look at Dunn.
However, Dunn’s camp does not want him taken by either team, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical at Yahoo Sports said in a draft video show. The reason is both teams have established young point guards (Isaiah Thomas in Boston, Eric Bledsoe in Phoenix). Agents of guys getting drafted don’t have much leverage, but in Dunn’s case he didn’t take a physical at the combine, so he could try to withhold medical information from the teams plus not meet with them. Here is Wojnarowski’s quote:
“They can’t stop them from drafting Dunn, but will those teams do it without his medical records, without a personal workout, without an interview with him? Because I’m told Boston and Phoenix will likely have to do that with Dunn.”
Teams draft guys they didn’t work out all the time; that is not going to stop either Boston or Phoenix if they like Dunn.
The question is do they like other guys who are projected in that range — Dragen Bender, Jaylen Brown — more? Teams drafting this high take the best player available, only drafting for position if they consider two prospects equal.
There’s going to be a lot of this kind of maneuvering heading up to the draft. For example, Ben Simmons’ camp reportedly wants him with the Lakers, problem is the Sixers have the top pick and are leaning heavily toward taking him.
As for what Dunn brings to the table, here is what PBT’s NBA Draft expert — and Rotoworld writer — Ed Isaacson said about him.
He is a very good ballhandler with excellent vision, and he can be a spectacular passer, but his decisions can still be mindboggling. He thrives when Providence pushes the tempo, doing a great job getting the ball up the floor quickly and finding open teammates for easy scores. He did show improvement in the half court, and he can be very tough to keep out of the lane. Getting to the rim and scoring is a different issue; Dunn can have a lot of problems finishing around length at the basket, but if he has just a little space, he can finish in a spectacular way. Dunn’s perimeter shooting issues are still there, even though looking at his shot, there don’t seem to be any major fixes needed.