Chicago Bulls: 5 takeaways from 2017-18 NBA season

4. Kris Dunn is the point guard of the future

The Timberwolves selected Kris Dunn at the No. 5 spot in the 2016 NBA Draft. Unfortunately, things didn’t go the way Dunn had hoped during his first NBA season in Minnesota. In fact, not even close.

How bad was it?

Well, in 78 appearances, Dunn’s averages consisted of just 3.8 points and 2.4 assists in 17.1 minutes per contest. Furthermore, he shot just 37.7 percent from the field overall and 28.8 percent from 3-point range.

These aren’t the kind of numbers that scream star in the making, but being that the Bulls were hoping Dunn was still on the draft board the year before, they snagged him as part of the offseason trade with the Timberwolves.

Initially, the returns were not very positive. Dunn played in just one Summer League game and he missed the first four games of the season with an index finger injury. Not only that, but Jerian Grant was playing well at the lead guard spot.

Eventually, Fred Hoiberg inserted Dunn into the starting lineup in late November and things started trending upward for Dunn ever since. In spite of the concussion that forced him to miss 11 games and the recent turf toe injury, Dunn had an impressive year for the Bulls.

For starters, he has more than tripled his scoring output from a year ago. He has also more than doubled his assist totals as well. To put the icing on the cake, his shooting numbers (42.9 overall percent overall and 32.1 from 3-point range) are significantly better than the numbers he posted in 2016-17.

True, Dunn still has room for improvement in regards to being a legitimate perimeter threat. Based on what we witnessed this year, there is no reason to believe that he can’t improve in this area as well.

In other words, barring some type of serious injury, Dunn has more than likely cemented in his spot as the team’s starting point guard in the years to come.