Chicago Bulls: 3 big questions heading into 2019-20

3. Can Dunn retain the starting point guard position?

It wasn’t that long ago when Kris Dunn was taken with the No. 5 overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves back in 2016.

Known primarily for playing solid defense and being a decent scorer during his college years at Providence, Dunn didn’t make the grade during his rookie season (3.8 points, 2.4 assists and 2.1 rebounds per contest).

As a result, he was traded to the Chicago Bulls, along with Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen on draft night in 2017. In his first season with the Bulls, Dunn flourished, posting averages of 13.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per contest on shooting splits of .429/.321/.737.

Based on that production, it was reasonable to expect that Dunn’s second year in the Windy City would see him cement his status as the team’s starting point guard of the future.

Unfortunately, that isn’t exactly how things went. True, Dunn did post a career high in 3-point shooting, knocking down 35.4 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc. Conversely, his scoring, rebounding, overall shooting percentage and steals dipped a bit.

Moreover, Dunn has only played a total of 98 games in his two seasons with the Bulls due to an assortment of injuries.

As you can imagine, the front office hasn’t totally given up on Dunn, but they aren’t totally sold on him being the team’s long-term solution as the starting point guard following an up and down season.

"“Kris is going to have opportunity because he’s under contract but we understand as an organization that that’s a position that if we’re to make a step in the right direction, that we’re going to have to address. No beating around the bush on that one,” John Paxson said via NBC Sports Chicago."

If Dunn can consistently perform at a high level, he will be the lead guard going forward. If not, the Bulls will to try to plug in the right player at the position that has been a revolving door since the team parted ways with Derrick Rose three years ago.