Chicago Bulls: Could Kris Dunn be the next Rajon Rondo?
Taking a close look at the stats, Chicago Bulls point guard Kris Dunn looks a lot like another really special point guard.
Back in 1996, one of the greatest point guards of all time in Jason Kidd joined elite company by dishing out a whopping 25 dimes. Yeah, he could distribute the ball.
The feat wasn’t matched until earlier this year, when Rajon Rondo proved to the basketball world that he’s still got the magic. Of course, Rondo was nipping at the heels of that record leading up to that performance with 23- and 24-assist games coming in 2011 and 2010, respectively.
But this statistical outburst, along with his resurgence as a New Orleans Pelican, proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Rondo is truly a transcendent and generational player. His prototype is a tough one to match, in that he can defend and take away the lane from opposing slashers,has iconic court vision, and rebounds the rock a lot for a point guard.
So if a team had a chance to have that kind of player in the infant stages of his career, they’d jump at the chance, right?
…can you hear that silence all the way from Minnesota?
Well, when the Minnesota Timberwolves traded Kris Dunn after just one year of limited bench time playing behind Ricky Rubio, they just may have passed on a player who could pan out to be the next Rajon Rondo. Much to the benefit of the Chicago Bulls, Dunn has already flourished in his sophomore campaign with not even 50 games of true opportunity to lead a team under his belt.
Kris Dunn has proven a lot so far this season. At just 23 years old, Dunn is already putting up impressive Rondo-esque kind of games. He steals the ball in the paint against slashers just like Rondo has throughout his career, he grabs boards and pushes the pace, and of course, like Rondo, he could find an open shooter if he were hiding in the locker room.
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Since Dunn basically lost last season’s opportunity to develop, the best way to see if he can be that kind of distributor and defender is to look at individual game performances and consider what hindrances — outside of minute limitations — he’s had now that he’s being unleashed.
For one, it’s worth noting that he has missed 16 games so far due to injury. This equates to more than 16 games, because it takes a lot for a player to get back into his groove when returning from any kind of break from NBA basketball.
In addition, before Dunn had flashed his true upside to the Bulls organization, they could hardly be blamed for not giving him a long leash. To that end, in over 51 games played this season, he was playing in 25 minutes or less in 12 of them. In another 15 contests. he didn’t even hit 30 minutes.
So despite being “unleashed” this season, it has been a more gradual unleashing than most might perceive. This is another important element to consider when looking at his whole season averages versus what he is going to be capable of moving forward.
So counting those out, there are a few stats that make Dunn look like another Rajon Rondo, not the least of which is how their numbers compare from their second seasons in the league:
| Player | Season | Age | G | MP | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | eFG% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kris Dunn | 2017-18 | 23 | 51 | 29.4 | .429 | 0.8 | 2.6 | .328 | .462 | .730 | 4.3 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 2.9 | 13.6 |
| Rajon Rondo | 2007-08 | 21 | 77 | 29.9 | .492 | 0.1 | 0.2 | .263 | .496 | .611 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 1.9 | 10.6 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/15/2018.
That’s not all though. Dunn got at least one steal for nine straight games in November, averaging 2.3 swipes in that span. Similarly, Rondo went on a 16-game stretch starting in his second season back in March of 2008 during which time he registered at least one swipe per game.
Dunn has also dished the ball for an assist at least seven times in 21 games this season. Rondo did this 22 times in his second season, but that was over the course of 82 games with Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce on the receiving end of those passes. Coincidentally, Rondo’s high mark on dimes that season was the same as Dunn’s career high, 16.
Neither player seems to be affected by playing on the road. This is exactly the kind of no-nonsense, unfazed play that earned Rondo the right to turn the Big 3 into a Big 4. For Dunn, if anything, his stats are slightly better in visiting arenas. His splits on the road vs. at home are nearly identical:
- Road: 13.6 PPG, 6.0 APG, 4.0 RPG, 1.7 SPG
- Home: 13.4 PPG, 6.0 APG, 4.8 RPG, 2.3 SPG
Similarly, Rondo’s career numbers on the road vs. at home are nearly identical:
- Road: 10.3 PPG, 8.0 APG, 4.9 RPG
- Home: 10.6 PPG, 8.9 APG, 4.8 RPG
Dunn rebounds the ball. This season, he is averaging 4.3 rebounds per game. If anything was learned from Russell Westbrook’s historic triple-double season last year, it’s that point guards who grab boards have the edge in that they can jump directly into attack mode. That can be huge for pushing a fast pace. Rondo has also been a historically strong rebounding point guard, averaging 4.8 boards per contest in his career.
All of these things and more, such as intangible stats and vocal leadership, show Dunn is poised for continual monster growth. While Rondo had the time to develop next to prime All-Stars in Garnett, Pierce and Allen, by the time he was 23 years old, he was in his fourth season and ready to be an All-Star himself, with averages of 13.7 points, 9.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game.
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While that isn’t the case just yet for Dunn, he has had a hugely different experience so far as an NBA player. Even his flaws, such as his shooting percentages, mirror that of Rajon Rondo. Fortunately for Bulls Nation, that doesn’t change the fact that Kris Dunn is a hungry player who does indeed have Rondo upside.