Minnesota Sports Forum

As many of you know Dunn wasn't my guy but I'm happy to have him because of the obviously things he brings. I'll add a few reasons why I do like the pick at this point other than the sort of obvious stuff. I'm hoping some people that are massive Dunn fans come and pump it up.

Dunn seems to be a guy that is cool not about flash and great to add into the mix of guys we have. He seems like a guy that isn't about getting his and may fit in long term with everyone quite well. Abe will stay skeptical about all this and I'm not buying it big time but I am projecting stuff just like another other part of a prospect. I say this and I haven't watched and listened to everything about Dunn. I'll listen to his apparent on the Vertical podcast tomorrow. I had it downloaded yesterday. :)

DEFENSE I've even been a bit skeptical about him being so terrific on defense but there is no doubt he projects to be at least above average there. If he turns out to be a really good defensive player that people expect it's terrific and something this team needs.

Teams wanted the guy bad and it seemed like there was no way he would even get to #5. Boston was loaded and so is Pheonix so he was there. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do in SL. It's not a perfect way to assess how good guys are but Infeel like you can get some idea of what they can and maybe can't do. I was pretty impressed with what I saw out of Lavine that first year and thought he could be a player maybe quicker than I thought.

https://youtu.be/WnpRJhIz7_A

His tenacity and speed of play is incredible. Rubio doesn't play with that drive, nor does he look to shoot it like Dunn does. Frankly, I love Rubio, but his experiment is over and feel if the wolves can make a trade for him and we can get a PF, SG vet then I'm all in. That's how excited I am for Dunn. I see a Westbrook/Lillard type player.

slimcalhoun27 wrote:His tenacity and speed of play is incredible. Rubio doesn't play with that drive, nor does he look to shoot it like Dunn does. Frankly, I love Rubio, but his experiment is over and feel if the wolves can make a trade for him and we can get a PF, SG vet then I'm all in. That's how excited I am for Dunn. I see a Westbrook/Lillard type player.

Keep them all. Pick up Deng and noah. Maybe crawford type SG?
Starters.

Ricky or Dunn
Wiggins
Deng
Noah
KAT

2nd team

Dunn or Ricky
LaVine
Shabazz
Dieng
Pek/ Free agent

Thats a pretty sick 2nd team.

His story is amazing, the kid survived on with his brother on their own and completely turned it around in his life and academics when he reconnected with his father who he didn't know for his early childhood. He chose a degree when he likely could have been a high pick last year. He wasn't my guy either but I am super pumped to cheer for him even just from a character perspective. I love that we are going to have a real pg on the 2nd unit. Can't wait for next season to start.

Love the pick. Really didn't expect him to fall to 5.

I like the pick, seems like a good kid who plays with an edge, but only time will tell if this was the smarter move instead of grabbing one of the elite shooters available, something this team is still sorely lacking.

Also, while I agree with everyone out there who believes Dunn has a high ceiling, at the same time he does have some red flags--he main one being his assist to turnover ratio, even as a senior (1.77) was less than stellar (compare this to Rubio last season at the NBA level: 3.4). Then again maybe playing with better players and a more open court style will benefit him in this area. Regardless, there will no doubt be a learning curve. That's why the calls to trade Rubio are absurd. Keep them both for now, and if by the end of next season Dunn has taken over the starting job then we drafted a helluva player, and Rubio either becomes the best backup point guard in the league or expendable. Win win.

But back to Dunn. He seems like an intense, gritty competitor who no doubt will get after it on defense. No team can have too many of these type of players. 48 minutes of Rubio/Dunn guarding other teams' point guards sounds really good. Also I can see these 5 players closing some games: Rubio/Dunn/Lavine/Wiggins/Kat. That fast break would be insane.

Misty - I think you nailed it.

I will be curious to see how much better our current players will shoot when we have a point guard that will collapse defenses with his quickness leaving others more wide-open than theyre used to being.

This is a Dunn excitement thread, and I'll get to that because I'm feeling it. But first a nod to Misty for pointing out the main reason why talks of moving Rubio are absurd. One of the areas Thibs has stressed in every interview is keeping turnovers to a minimum...Rubio does that, Dunn doesn't...yet. Tyus Jones also has a great reputation for protecting the basketball (almost a 3:1 A:TO ratio as a freshman at Duke), so Dunn is going to have to learn to play more under control before he is handed the backup PG role.

That said, this is a very good pick. Although you can't believe much of what you hear pre-draft, it's pretty clear that Dunn was quite highly regarded, and perhaps the 3rd most highly regarded player in the draft. I really think Boston (and maybe Phoenix) thought they could get somebody to offer enough to move up to 3, and I wouldn't be surprised if thibs thought that was the most likely scenario also. I truly think he was surprised when Dunn was still there at 5. I think we were lucky that the two teams ahead of us didn't really need another PG, and that they weren't impressed enough with the offers they received.

The thing I like best about Dunn is his strong character. We have all heard the stories about his difficult childhood, but I especially like the fact that he has a dad who is well-respected in New London who has been very active in his life since he rescued him at a young age from his mom. I work a lot with inner city kids, and I can't stress enough the advantage kids have who are lucky to have a positive paternal role model, and now the last 5 Wolves' draft picks have all had dads who are positive role models...and not coincidently all seem to have excellent character (Kevin Love and Shabazz Muhammad both had active dads, but neither was a positive influence). Dunn is just another great high-character coachable piece for Thibs to develop.

His physical tools are extraordinary too. 6'4", 210 pounds with outstanding athleticism and wingspan for a guard. If you watch video of him, you can't help but notice his superb body control which allows him to finish well at the basket. And his height allows him to see over his defender and contributes to his excellent vision.

He doesn't have the reputation of being a great shooter, but his senior year 3-point rate of 37.2% was only slightly lower than Tyus Jones', and because of his ability to get to the basket and finish, his overall shooting percentage is better than Tyus' at Duke.

I don't think his defense is overrated either. His size and quickness should make him a plus NBA defender against both PGs and SGs.

While I would have preferred the enormous upside of Bender, there's no question that Dunn is ready to contribute right away much more than Bender. Hopefully thibs will impress upon him the importance of protecting the ball, and he can give us some solid minutes off the bench at both PG and SG.