Day one of Phoenix Suns training camp is in the books, and it was interesting to see Ryan Dunn as the last player off the court during media availability. The third-year forward got up some 3-point shots as things slowed down and quietly showed the world he won’t give up on his roster spot in The Valley without a fight in the process. He knows what he must work on to stick around.
Consistent offensive game key to Dunn not being forgotten about
The main knock on Dunn’s game (other than the unrealistic expectations that he could be this team’s version of Mikal Bridges) to this point has been an inability to contribute offensively on a nightly basis. When his 3-point shot falls, the whole court opens up for Dunn.
He plays with more confidence, and this includes defensively, the place on the court he has always been comfortable. Picking up elite scorers and using his long frame to disrupt, Dunn is the perfect Jordan Ott player on paper. With the Suns making training camp moves to remain as competitive as possible, Dunn has looked like the player who could suffer the most.
Waived altogether? We’re unfortunately not ruling that out. But Dunn was never going to go without a fight, and he still possesses skills that those battling him for minutes do not. Rasheer Fleming has the higher ceiling and is already the better scorer, but he can’t defend the way Dunn regularly does across five positions on the court. Similarly, incoming rookie Koa Peat is a bustling ball of energy and should have an impact inside the paint.
But defending on the perimeter is something he cannot do at the level Dunn has in the NBA for two seasons now. Even Dillon Brooks and Miles Bridges, the starting tandem and much better players than Dunn, have different profiles from the 23-year-old.
Dunn can use addition of Phillip Wheeler to prove he still belongs
The Suns made one final training camp move that was revealed during their first day officially back together, with forward Phillip Wheeler joining the mix. He is unlikely to stick in Phoenix, but Dunn can use his addition as a player to go at hard every day in practice to show the coaching staff that there are levels to this game, signaling that he is the superior player.
Sticking around on the court while the cameras are still in the building might not look like much, but it was surely Dunn’s way of silently telling everybody that he is still on this team as one of their 15 players and is not going anywhere without a fight. If he does discover how to shoot consistently from anywhere on the court, the conversations around his role with a playoff-chasing group will change in a hurry.
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