Kris Dunn may be more likely to start for the Utah Jazz than you think.
The Utah Jazz have a quagmire at point guard, dare we say, a conundrum. The team has no less than six players who could end up starting for them at the position this offseason. Granted, with differing odds than the others. Those six men are rookie Keyonte George, veteran two-way guard Kris Dunn, the dynamic scorer part one in Collin Sexton, a physical player in Talen Horton-Tucker, the other dynamic scorer part two (Electric Boogaloo) Jordan Clarkson, and a player who’s on a two-way contract, but isn’t a two-way player with Johnny Juzang,
Despite his three-point shot, Juzang is the least likely, but outside of that, it’s a crab shoot. Clarkson is penciled in at the starting two-guard spot, but maybe Ochai Agbaji gets the start there, then what? Clarkson moves to point guard, as he’s listed on the CBS website. It’s also the position he’ll be playing for the Philippines as they move on into the FIBA World Cup tournament proper.
Sexton is a carbon copy clone of Clarkson, and if he can get an extension with the Jazz, will likely hasten the clubs’ desire to move on from Clarkson and get some young assets back in return. Horton-Tucker is an inefficient scorer, but he’s arguably the most physical two-way player the team has. As for Dunn, no guard passes or defends better than him, but he’s nowhere near the scorer anyone else is.
Then there’s George, an unknown commodity.
So when put in proper context, it’s not fair to say that Dunn starting at the position would be a total shock, as Sports Illustrated claimed. In fact, Dunn is our front-runner to start this season. Yes, Clarkson and Sexton are better scorers, but assuming the starting rotation includes Clarkson, Lauri Markkanen, and John Collins, then you need someone who can be a pass-first player on offense while matching Walker Kessler’s energy on defense. After all, Clarkson, Markkanen, and Collins will lead the team in attempts, so you don’t want another shoot-first guard on the floor with them.
Plus none of them are going to be on the NBA All-Defense team anytime soon, so Dunn’s defense will help Kessler not be the only aggressive defender on the court.
So the Jazz really just have one player who can match that lineup and it’s Dunn. Sure, maybe they go in a different direction, and have Clarkson start at point guard, and then have Agbaji at the two-guard spot. That’s possible too.
But if the idea is to have Clarkson, Markkanen, Collins, and Kessler on the floor to start every game, then Dunn is the guy to go with.
Unless the team makes a shocking trade for someone like Chris Paul or DeJounte Murray. Then this whole argument goes out the window.