The 2025-26 season is not going to plan for Ryan Dunn of the Phoenix Suns. Despite the roster being hit hard by injuries, he has failed to take advantage of a bigger role in The Valley.
The dispiriting 92-77 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers the most recent example, with Dunn promoted to the starting lineup and playing 31 minutes. He posted only two points for a minus 18 on the night.
Dunn has to make more 3-pointers to stick in Phoenix
Although you can never question his defensive intensity or motor, Dunn has struggled to become a more consistent 3-point shooter this season.
Before now you could have made the case that this didn't matter. Dunn was out there for his defending and the Suns sit 14th (35.9 percent) in made 3-pointers anyway.
I'm not saying I'm out on him at all, but Ryan Dunn is one of the worst offensive wings I've ever seen. Love his defense though.
— LEEZUS (@AndrewLeezus) February 23, 2026
Only the Trail Blazers game forced head coach Jordan Ott to play three rookies because of the injuries to key guys, and it led to an unexpected outcome.
The trio of Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming and Koby Brea all managing to make a shot from deep, with Fleming hitting a pair.
In fact all of Brea and Fleming's points (nine combined) came from beyond the arc, while Maluach hit his first three of the season as he finished with seven points.
Dunn went 0-for-4 from 3-point range, and did little to prove that the 32 percent he has managed to this point is going to change anytime soon.
With the Suns starters (which included Dunn) connecting on only five efforts from 3-point range compared to the four of the rookies, it is clear that Dunn has some work to do if he wants to keep his minutes.
But if he could somehow find consistency with his own 3-point shot (which we saw flashes of around Christmas), then he would suddenly become impossible for coach Ott to ignore.
What is worrying for Dunn is the fact Fleming has a large frame for a forward, although he is not yet as smart a defender as his sophomore teammate.
He's most definitely got a better shooting stroke though, while Brea has the kind of offensive ability off the bench that could also hurt Dunn's chances of being used more often.
Not helping matters either was coach Ott's decision to play Maluach and Oso Ighodaro together some in the loss to the Trail Blazers, an experiment we likely haven't seen the last of.
This is not a new problem for Dunn, but the sense of urgency to fix it is increasing. His less experienced teammates look like they are going to overtake him in 3-pointers made quickly.
But if he can make even 36 percent of these shots the rest of the way and show real improvement, he will head into the offseason firmly in coach Ott's long-term plans here.