Ex-Bulls Point Guard, Former Lottery Pick Lands NBA Deal

Getty Kris Dunn defends DeMar DeRozan during a 2020 bout between the Chicago Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs.

Amember of the Chicago Bulls family who has been attempting to work his way back to the NBA through the G League looks to have found his opportunity. Kris Dunn, a former No. 5 overall pick whose last Association action came with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2021-22, is finally back in effect.

Per an announcement from the team on Wednesday afternoon, Dunn has put pen to paper on a 10-day contract with the Utah Jazz (who recently bought out Russell Westbrook). The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Tony Jones were the first to report on the 28-year-old’s big move.

Joining Dunn in Salt Lake City will be combo guard Frank Jackson, who also signed a 10-day contract with the Jazz.

Dunn had spent all of his 2022-23 to date with the Capital City Go-Go, affiliate club of the Washington Wizards. In a combined 33 games of Showcase Cup and regular-season competition, he averaged 15.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.5 steals while shooting 54.6% from the floor and 41.3% from deep.

Kris Dunn’s Best Days as an NBA Player Came With the Chicago Bulls

After becoming a consensus All-American and two-time Big East POY at Providence, Dunn was selected in the lottery range of the 2016 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, with whom he made 78 appearances as a rookie.

However, he and future Bulls cornerstone Zach LaVine ultimately found their way to the Windy City in the Jimmy Butler trade during the summer of 2017. Over the next three years — through the 2019-20 campaign — Dunn made 149 appearances in a Bulls uniform, 119 of which were starts. Along the way, he averaged a respectable 10.7 points, 5.1 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals per contest.

Although his perimeter game never quite developed on the offensive side — where he attempted just 22.6% of his shots from long range and sunk them at a meager 31% clip — and his usage rate bottomed out during his final year in Chicago, he was a star defensively.

Dunn led the league in steal percentage (3.8) and finished second in defensive box plus/minus (3.1) and steals per game (2.0) in ’19-20.

Despite that production, new Bulls decision-maker Arturas Karnisovas opted not to extend Dunn a qualifying offer during the 2020 offseason. Since then, he has battled injuries while bouncing from team to team.

Patrick Beverley Sounds Off on What He’ll Bring to the Bulls

During a recent episode of his show, The Pat Bev Podcast, just-signed Bulls point-man Patrick Beverley was adamant that he has a lot to offer his new club, espousing his winning impact and noting that he had raised his game during his final stretch with the Los Angeles Lakers.

“In the last couple of months… I’ve been playing arguably some of the best basketball I’ve ever played in the NBA,” Beverley declared, as relayed by NBC Sports Chicago, and there may just be something to that.

Much of what Beverley does goes beyond the counting stats but, since December 9, he has averaged 7.9 points, 2.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds while knocking down 42.4% of his three-point tries. Numbers aside, though, the fact that he’ll be representing his hometown may just bring him to an even higher level with the Bulls.

“To play for your city with that jersey on like it’s no telling what I might say, you know what I’m saying?”