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Kris Dunn

OK, you got me. You know what I meant. If we don't sign a different player, it's also actively taking a bet on the young players. I believe in Butler/Forrest and would like to give them the best chance to succeed. Signing Dunn would impede their progress. If that's what you have a problem with, I'm guilty. I just felt the same way about those guys as you felt about Doke.

Anderson's 3 point shooting is an outlier, but he did do it. I wouldn't believe he would be a solid 3 point shooter unless he did. If Dunn had a good shooting season on that volume I might believe it too, but he would need to do it first. Anderson has also been really great from mid range too. His assisted amount of 3's is higher than Dunn's, but also fairly low compared to other wings which is another reason why I have confidence in his shot. What if instead of 86% of 3's being assisted it was 98% like Royce?

Needless to say I'm very confident in Anderson and I think his type of defense is more important and his position is more crucial to our success.
I do know what you mean… you mean we have enough. Which is a dangerous assumption and a mistake we have made many times already.

no idea what you mean about Doke. I was 1000% against the pick. I think he’s got potential but I feel much better having Whiteside. I actually think the hate has gone way too far there.

Im the number one Butler fan… been on that corner predraft… go check the draft thread if you want. I’m excited about him… think he has a great shot to be playable as a rookie… but playable and effective are different things. We may be fine with him on the court but I think a healthy Dunn is likely more effective than Butler as a rookie… it’s a much safer bet. There is also a potential knee issue and his offseason is not off to a fast start. If he was playing in SL I would feel
Much better saying just rely on Butler.

Forrest is fine but if he hits his highest ceiling I’m not sure that ceiling is higher than the player Dunn has already been. Dunn is like all nba defense type ****. So I get it… we can buy a tomato for a dollar or plant some tomato seeds for some pennies… we may have enough tomatoes to make salsa already but if we get halfway through the process and realize we are short… those seeds ain’t helping much and the whole batch could go to ****.

Say Mike or Joe or JC go out for six weeks… Butler better be really good otherwise we do the same thing we do every year where we burn out one of the other guys during the regular season to stay afloat. The team is deeper now so I feel better about our chances of covering an injury… but we are still thin at guard imo. Huge Butler fan and hopefully we only need him for 25 or so games while we load manage… it would be great if he was up and got that development time but it’s no bueno if we are relying on a rookie or buyout market to fill a need that is created by an injury. Injuries are not unlikely events… you need to plan for them.
 
Not sure the spacing would work but can you imagine having him out there with Rudy for 5-10 minutes a night at times. That’s a ****ing trip to the dentist with no Novocain.
If we can be somewhat passable with Rudy, Derrick and Rubio, we can do fine with Rudy and Dunn surrounded by any trio of Don, Mike, Bojan, Ingles or Clarkson. Or a super defensive lineup (that still has O) of Don, Dunn, Royce, Gay and Rudy.
 
If we can be somewhat passable with Rudy, Derrick and Rubio, we can do fine with Rudy and Dunn surrounded by any trio of Don, Mike, Bojan, Ingles or Clarkson. Or a super defensive lineup (that still has O) of Don, Dunn, Royce, Gay and Rudy.
Actually, that’s my defensive closing lineup down the stretch when you’re subbing offense and defense after each possession:

Don
Dunn
Royce
Gay
Rudy

My offensive lineup would be:

Conley
Don
Bojan
Gay
Rudy

Ingles is in the above lineup for inbounds if it’s a short clock or pressure situation.
 
If we can be somewhat passable with Rudy, Derrick and Rubio, we can do fine with Rudy and Dunn surrounded by any trio of Don, Mike, Bojan, Ingles or Clarkson. Or a super defensive lineup (that still has O) of Don, Dunn, Royce, Gay and Rudy.
I am now stepping out of this conversation and leaving you to bear the burden on your own with this one. If it were just getting a guy like James Ennis or something truly replacement level I wouldn’t care. If we can swipe Dunn who is an elite perimeter defender and the only costs are money and giving a roster spot to Hughes, Brantley, Oni… then it’s great. If it also Nets us a second rounder… which it should based on rumors then it’s the ****!

Also when considering the money side… we dumped 20M of Favs and saved like 40M in tax just this year. We also received money from OKC in the deal… I know Ryan is deeper in the tax than the Millers ever would have gone… but we’ve saved some pennies and could find ways to cut costs again depending on how things go. It’s a lot of money but between Ryan and the Australian owner guy I think they can handle it.
 
I think Batum had a clear cut role for them that expanded as the season went on and injuries dictated. Jackson is very similar to Dunn imo... they had just brought on Kennard... still had Lou Will and Pat Bev. His minutes yo-yo'd at the beginning of the season as they were figuring out what worked. They thought they needed a floor general and even went out and added Rondo at the trade deadline... so RJ's role was not clear cut at all. They thought he might be useful, but it would have been reasonable to guess that he'd be out of the rotation at some point during the season if they were healthy. Very much like Dunn would be here.

Mann was a development surprise... but I use these guys as fringe roster additions that can change things for you. One of those types of moves isn't enough on its own... but as a whole they have a material effect on the season for sure. So when folks say "who cares player X is your 8th/9th man" it doesn't really work for me. Dunn might get mothballed like Rondo did... but he also might really help.

I agree with the overall assessment on Smart being better... definitely the preferred route from my perspective. I think Dunn could be a useful specialist because he is incredibly good at the thing he does well. If Butler isn't ready he'd be useful in managing the season and keeping DM, Mike, and Joe healthy through load management. If Quin doesn't have good options I don't see us willingly going into load management mode until it becomes injury management.

My line of thinking on Dunn is - If we are in the Clippers series and everything is going the way it was and the only thing that changed is we had a healthy Kris Dunn do I think Quin would use him? I do... Do I think it would matter? Yes I think it would. RJ was killing us... Dunn can help stem that tide. He might also be able to sneak in and disrupt some drives. He might have hurt us offensively but I might prefer him to Royce at times.

We've solved the frontcourt depth problems imo... the perimeter/guard depth issues are hopefully solved by Butler, Forrest, and decent health. Kind of a grab bag there. I agree Smart would be like a perfect solution theoretically. But I think Dunn is a really useful second option and if it only costs $7M extra I'd do it in a heart beat. Might be able to get a second rounder for your trouble. Boston may not make Smart available at all and if they did they might do better than JC.

If the Dunn acquisition had no impact it is either because he was hurt (that sucks) or because the team was healthy and/or Butler looks good... I think you'd be in a pretty good place if the latter is true. We need to make as many good bets as we can imo.
The issues weren't just straight up depth. We had depth. But they couldn't do what we needed. We got killed because none of our guys could even bother anyone on the perimeter. We have better players in our depth-chart now, but we still have weak perimeter D. I hope upgrading in general is enough, but without the ability to cover anyone at the 3 pt line without allowing a parade to the rim we still have a bad weakness that can be exposed.
 
I do know what you mean… you mean we have enough. Which is a dangerous assumption and a mistake we have made many times already.

no idea what you mean about Doke. I was 1000% against the pick. I think he’s got potential but I feel much better having Whiteside. I actually think the hate has gone way too far there.

Im the number one Butler fan… been on that corner predraft… go check the draft thread if you want. I’m excited about him… think he has a great shot to be playable as a rookie… but playable and effective are different things. We may be fine with him on the court but I think a healthy Dunn is likely more effective than Butler as a rookie… it’s a much safer bet. There is also a potential knee issue and his offseason is not off to a fast start. If he was playing in SL I would feel
Much better saying just rely on Butler.

Forrest is fine but if he hits his highest ceiling I’m not sure that ceiling is higher than the player Dunn has already been. Dunn is like all nba defense type ****. So I get it… we can buy a tomato for a dollar or plant some tomato seeds for some pennies… we may have enough tomatoes to make salsa already but if we get halfway through the process and realize we are short… those seeds ain’t helping much and the whole batch could go to ****.

Say Mike or Joe or JC go out for six weeks… Butler better be really good otherwise we do the same thing we do every year where we burn out one of the other guys during the regular season to stay afloat. The team is deeper now so I feel better about our chances of covering an injury… but we are still thin at guard imo. Huge Butler fan and hopefully we only need him for 25 or so games while we load manage… it would be great if he was up and got that development time but it’s no bueno if we are relying on a rookie or buyout market to fill a need that is created by an injury. Injuries are not unlikely events… you need to plan for them.

What I mean is that if we choose Dunn, we have less. I have repeatedly said that independent of money, I would not choose Dunn. I am not against Dunn because we have enough, I am against Dunn because I believe he gives us less. See how that works? If the Jazz don't want to give me a contract, it's not because they think they have enough. It's because what they have is better than me. If you don't think adding someone will help you, that is not the same thing as saying we have enough.

In the minimum contract thread, you said that Len might be too good and will play above Udoka. Ironically, you also said that you're not interested in a PG because you're all in on Butler. Opinions change, whatever, but I don't think it's incorrect to want to clear playing for the younger players. Just depends on how much you believe in the young player and how much you believe in the vet that might take his time. I value Butler/Forrest more than Dunn in this equation.
 
What I mean is that if we choose Dunn, we have less. I have repeatedly said that independent of money, I would not choose Dunn. I am not against Dunn because we have enough, I am against Dunn because I believe he gives us less. See how that works? If the Jazz don't want to give me a contract, it's not because they think they have enough. It's because what they have is better than me. If you don't think adding someone will help you, that is not the same thing as saying we have enough.

In the minimum contract thread, you said that Len might be too good and will play above Udoka. Ironically, you also said that you're not interested in a PG because you're all in on Butler. Opinions change, whatever, but I don't think it's incorrect to want to clear playing for the younger players. Just depends on how much you believe in the young player and how much you believe in the vet that might take his time. I value Butler/Forrest more than Dunn in this equation.
ADDING Dunn... a guy who was the top steal rate and deflection player a couple years ago... to a team that was the bottom of the league in those categories... gives us LESS especially because it comes at the expense of Hughes, Oni, or Brantley. ADDING Dunn also gives us a guy capable of staying in front of those quicker perimeter players we struggled with... but that gives us LESS because what if another guy can develop into a player that can do that... If that is truly your evaluation then I just think it’s completely stupid… so we don’t have to discuss it at all anymore... some galaxy brain **** right there.

The only reason not to do it is cost. We will hold a roster spot open anyway so there isn't really even an opportunity cost associated. Adding a player where there is none does not give us less. Wanting Stanley Johnson while turning your nose at Dunn just tells me you have a weird evaluation of what Dunn can do... cuz Stanley is fine on defense and has a big body... but he struggles to stay in front of quicker guys and has had like half a season of solid focused defense. Dunn is so much better than him on defense.
 
The issues weren't just straight up depth. We had depth. But they couldn't do what we needed. We got killed because none of our guys could even bother anyone on the perimeter. We have better players in our depth-chart now, but we still have weak perimeter D. I hope upgrading in general is enough, but without the ability to cover anyone at the 3 pt line without allowing a parade to the rim we still have a bad weakness that can be exposed.
Last year we did not have depth or flexibility. Once you got past Niang/Favs there weren't really nba players to be seen... Ersan was one but was out of the league most of the season... He's maybe a fringe guy. We committed roster spots and two ways to like 6-7 guys who weren't established NBA players.

Now our 6th and 7th men were the ****... so in that way we had some quality depth pieces, but once we lost one to injury the talent level fell off a cliff.
 
ADDING Dunn... a guy who was the top steal rate and deflection player a couple years ago... to a team that was the bottom of the league in those categories... gives us LESS especially because it comes at the expense of Hughes, Oni, or Brantley. ADDING Dunn also gives us a guy capable of staying in front of those quicker perimeter players we struggled with... but that gives us LESS because what if another guy can develop into a player that can do that... If that is truly your evaluation then I just think it’s completely stupid… so we don’t have to discuss it at all anymore... some galaxy brain **** right there.

The only reason not to do it is cost. We will hold a roster spot open anyway so there isn't really even an opportunity cost associated. Adding a player where there is none does not give us less. Wanting Stanley Johnson while turning your nose at Dunn just tells me you have a weird evaluation of what Dunn can do... cuz Stanley is fine on defense and has a big body... but he struggles to stay in front of quicker guys and has had like half a season of solid focused defense. Dunn is so much better than him on defense.

I mean…I told you the main reason why I think it’s less. It also explains why I prefer Johnson. I’m not going to mention it again because repeating myself does not work. It’s there, it’s been repeated, it’s not a crazy concept, and you’ve said it as well. If you think it’s completely stupid, you are actively choosing to ignore it or calling yourself completely stupid. I’m not bothered either way.
 
I mean…I told you the main reason why I think it’s less. It also explains why I prefer Johnson. I’m not going to mention it again because repeating myself does not work. It’s there, it’s been repeated, it’s not a crazy concept, and you’ve said it as well. If you think it’s completely stupid, you are actively choosing to ignore it or calling yourself completely stupid. I’m not bothered either way.
I'm good... I do see it as a crazy concept... but hey common core math is still around so crazier concepts have hung around. I don't see how someone can look at Dunn and Johnson and prefer Johnson regardless of cost but whatevs. You do you.

I would have been much more comfortable relying on just Butler if I had known he would get some summer league time in... Rookies have an uphill battle... getting a late start is not going to help. Because of his draft process he is now getting physically up to speed so he's like a month or so behind where he would ideally be. I think he still might be able to get there but I'd be a little queasy if it came out the Mike was going to miss a month early in the season. There is danger in blocking a guys development... there is also danger in giving a guy too much too fast. Our depth is fine right now... IMO if we add Dunn (or anyone of his defensive ability) then our depth goes from fine to awesome.
 
I'm good... I do see it as a crazy concept... but hey common core math is still around so crazier concepts have hung around. I don't see how someone can look at Dunn and Johnson and prefer Johnson regardless of cost but whatevs. You do you.

I would have been much more comfortable relying on just Butler if I had known he would get some summer league time in... Rookies have an uphill battle... getting a late start is not going to help. Because of his draft process he is now getting physically up to speed so he's like a month or so behind where he would ideally be. I think he still might be able to get there but I'd be a little queasy if it came out the Mike was going to miss a month early in the season. There is danger in blocking a guys development... there is also danger in giving a guy too much too fast. Our depth is fine right now... IMO if we add Dunn (or anyone of his defensive ability) then our depth goes from fine to awesome.

Not blocking development doesn't seem like a crazy concept to me. If we didn't have Butler, I probably would prefer Dunn. I'm not strongly tilted one or the other. I feel awkward being the Anti Dunn guy because I loved him before, but his persistent injuries (it sounds pretty bad) and the acquisition of Butler has changed my tune on that. Butler's development has really high priority for me and I'm not too concerned if/when there are some growing pains. His late start only makes my stance stronger on this. If he's behind, he needs more reps to catch up. I don't want him to be further behind.

I'm comfortable if one of our main guys go down to injury because it's happened several times and the record has been just fine (better even). If he somehow bombs the record...oh well. Winning the RS was never the goal. I'm also not too concerned with giving him too much too fast. If he's not ready to be a big time creator, no big deal. Our team has so many guys who can share responsibilities.
 
Not blocking development doesn't seem like a crazy concept to me. If we didn't have Butler, I probably would prefer Dunn. I'm not strongly tilted one or the other. I feel awkward being the Anti Dunn guy because I loved him before, but his persistent injuries (it sounds pretty bad) and the acquisition of Butler has changed my tune on that. Butler's development has really high priority for me and I'm not too concerned if/when there are some growing pains. His late start only makes my stance stronger on this. If he's behind, he needs more reps to catch up. I don't want him to be further behind.

I'm comfortable if one of our main guys go down to injury because it's happened several times and the record has been just fine (better even). If he somehow bombs the record...oh well. Winning the RS was never the goal. I'm also not too concerned with giving him too much too fast. If he's not ready to be a big time creator, no big deal. Our team has so many guys who can share responsibilities.
If Dunn is healthy we have an elite defender who you used to love... if not then Butler plays... I mean sounds like a win-win solid upside play to me.

Butler's development is important but the goal is to win a title... not to develop a player. If Butler is good right away that helps... Butler's shot at being good and ready when it matters took a hit with the late start... we are an ankle or knee sprain away from him not really having a shot to be ready by season's end. The margin for error is smaller. Even if he looks solid in a Desmond Bane type of role I don't think he's the guy you throw out there for 10 minutes a night in the playoffs to slow down Dame, PG, Booker, Murray. If they decide the cost is prohibitive then fine... but that's my primary concern if I am Jazz management. They don't project as the same player types at all and I want options on the bench when it comes to playoff time (even if Quin doesn't use them having the options allows us to more fairly judge his coaching ability).

If Mike were out there is nothing that prohibits us from getting Butler and Dunn 15 minutes each. If Butler looks like the second coming of Brogdon and Dunn is healthy then great... you could likely move Dunn again to lower your tax and maybe pick up a second for your trouble... or you make the decision to move on from JC and get something. Adding Dunn does not prohibit a bigger move later... it actually may facilitate that.

Its the same type of fact pattern that led us to not bringing in a vet to block Oni's development... why bring in a vet to play over that guy... Oni had more experience than Butler... and he failed. Then you get in a playoff series when Niang and Oni are garbage and have nothing to turn to. By all accounts they have said they are all in on this year... Dunn is a move consistent with that idea.
 
If Dunn is healthy we have an elite defender who you used to love... if not then Butler plays... I mean sounds like a win-win solid upside play to me.

Butler's development is important but the goal is to win a title... not to develop a player. If Butler is good right away that helps... Butler's shot at being good and ready when it matters took a hit with the late start... we are an ankle or knee sprain away from him not really having a shot to be ready by season's end. The margin for error is smaller. Even if he looks solid in a Desmond Bane type of role I don't think he's the guy you throw out there for 10 minutes a night in the playoffs to slow down Dame, PG, Booker, Murray. If they decide the cost is prohibitive then fine... but that's my primary concern if I am Jazz management. They don't project as the same player types at all and I want options on the bench when it comes to playoff time (even if Quin doesn't use them having the options allows us to more fairly judge his coaching ability).

If Mike were out there is nothing that prohibits us from getting Butler and Dunn 15 minutes each. If Butler looks like the second coming of Brogdon and Dunn is healthy then great... you could likely move Dunn again to lower your tax and maybe pick up a second for your trouble... or you make the decision to move on from JC and get something. Adding Dunn does not prohibit a bigger move later... it actually may facilitate that.

Its the same type of fact pattern that led us to not bringing in a vet to block Oni's development... why bring in a vet to play over that guy... Oni had more experience than Butler... and he failed. Then you get in a playoff series when Niang and Oni are garbage and have nothing to turn to. By all accounts they have said they are all in on this year... Dunn is a move consistent with that idea.
I don’t get the idea of Butler and Dunn competing for minutes. They’re playing completely different roles. At least they should be. Unless Quin makes Dunn the default backup PG, then there should only be a minor overlap in the types of minutes they would compete with each other for. Butler is the new Neto. He can get more minutes off-ball as a shooter. Dunn is a utility guy who’s going to siphon minutes from guys who don’t bring as much on the defensive end (and some of Royce’s minutes so we’re not telling him “hey, you’re the only guy out here doing this for 36 minutes, play hard”). Dunn shaves a couple (just a couple) from JC, from Bojan, from Royce, from Ingles, from Don, from Conley, etc. Then he can get whatever Oni minutes there were. And injuries.
 
If Dunn is healthy we have an elite defender who you used to love... if not then Butler plays... I mean sounds like a win-win solid upside play to me.

Butler's development is important but the goal is to win a title... not to develop a player. If Butler is good right away that helps... Butler's shot at being good and ready when it matters took a hit with the late start... we are an ankle or knee sprain away from him not really having a shot to be ready by season's end. The margin for error is smaller. Even if he looks solid in a Desmond Bane type of role I don't think he's the guy you throw out there for 10 minutes a night in the playoffs to slow down Dame, PG, Booker, Murray. If they decide the cost is prohibitive then fine... but that's my primary concern if I am Jazz management. They don't project as the same player types at all and I want options on the bench when it comes to playoff time (even if Quin doesn't use them having the options allows us to more fairly judge his coaching ability).

If Mike were out there is nothing that prohibits us from getting Butler and Dunn 15 minutes each. If Butler looks like the second coming of Brogdon and Dunn is healthy then great... you could likely move Dunn again to lower your tax and maybe pick up a second for your trouble... or you make the decision to move on from JC and get something. Adding Dunn does not prohibit a bigger move later... it actually may facilitate that.

Its the same type of fact pattern that led us to not bringing in a vet to block Oni's development... why bring in a vet to play over that guy... Oni had more experience than Butler... and he failed. Then you get in a playoff series when Niang and Oni are garbage and have nothing to turn to. By all accounts they have said they are all in on this year... Dunn is a move consistent with that idea.

Or Dunn is not healthy or not good and people complain about him playing and clanking shots instead of playing Butler. Then Oni/Brantley signs with another team and he proves to be a much improved player. It's always a win-win if you don't consider the downside.

I don't think Butler's development is misaligned with winning a title...especially because I see this situation as a 2-3 year window. He can help us now, he can really help us in the next 2-3 years. I think he has two way potential which Dunn doesn't have. We didn't have him last year which is why I didn't have this reservation about Dunn.

If Oni worked out, that line of thinking would have been genius. It's not the pattern of thinking that's incorrect, it's the prospect and the guy you're bringing him in to potentially block him. You can just as easily bring in a vet who does nothing. The Jazz brought in Ersan and Matt Thomas and they did nothing. If you're about to say that Ersan and Matt Thomas are not Dunn, sure, but Butler is not Oni.

You're higher on Dunn, cool. If you are, I see why you think it's worth it to bring him in and I don't see the need to keep circling this conversation. I'm not as high on him and rather put a bigger bet on Butler and the other younger guys. I'd rather take the boost to Butler's development and whatever faith I have left in Oni/Brantley. That's all this is. You said verbatim that you didn't want someone to block Butler....I'm not saying this to hold this against you, but surely you must understand that concept of betting on your young players.
 
I don’t get the idea of Butler and Dunn competing for minutes. They’re playing completely different roles. At least they should be. Unless Quin makes Dunn the default backup PG, then there should only be a minor overlap in the types of minutes they would compete with each other for. Butler is the new Neto. He can get more minutes off-ball as a shooter. Dunn is a utility guy who’s going to siphon minutes from guys who don’t bring as much on the defensive end (and some of Royce’s minutes so we’re not telling him “hey, you’re the only guy out here doing this for 36 minutes, play hard”). Dunn shaves a couple (just a couple) from JC, from Bojan, from Royce, from Ingles, from Don, from Conley, etc. Then he can get whatever Oni minutes there were. And injuries.

You're right. If Dunn was on this roster he wouldn't completely block Butler...but positions are fluid. If anyone gets injured, almost anyone can take those minutes because players shift around. Everyone is fighting for the same minutes to some degree.
 
Or Dunn is not healthy or not good and people complain about him playing and clanking shots instead of playing Butler. Then Oni/Brantley signs with another team and he proves to be a much improved player. It's always a win-win if you don't consider the downside.

I don't think Butler's development is misaligned with winning a title...especially because I see this situation as a 2-3 year window. He can help us now, he can really help us in the next 2-3 years. I think he has two way potential which Dunn doesn't have. We didn't have him last year which is why I didn't have this reservation about Dunn.

If Oni worked out, that line of thinking would have been genius. It's not the pattern of thinking that's incorrect, it's the prospect and the guy you're bringing him in to potentially block him. You can just as easily bring in a vet who does nothing. The Jazz brought in Ersan and Matt Thomas and they did nothing. If you're about to say that Ersan and Matt Thomas are not Dunn, sure, but Butler is not Oni.

You're higher on Dunn, cool. If you are, I see why you think it's worth it to bring him in and I don't see the need to keep circling this conversation. I'm not as high on him and rather put a bigger bet on Butler and the other younger guys. I'd rather take the boost to Butler's development and whatever faith I have left in Oni/Brantley. That's all this is. You said verbatim that you didn't want someone to block Butler....I'm not saying this to hold this against you, but surely you must understand that concept of betting on your young players.
Good grief... let's just move on. I'd bet on Butler and Dunn... you can bet on Butler, Oni, and Brantley... I'm 1000% cool with my position there.
 
Good grief... let's just move on. I'd bet on Butler and Dunn... you can bet on Butler, Oni, and Brantley... I'm 1000% cool with my position there.
Sounds like we're ready to submit our opinions. Shouldn't Qualtrics be here to survey all of us? Gotta get moving on this stuff.

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HH and Infection getting a boner over another terrible player who absolutely does not fit the team. It's the off-season.
 
HH and Infection getting a boner over another terrible player who absolutely does not fit the team. It's the off-season.
There are actually lots of boners. Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean you won’t feel them.
 
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