Turning his brain off and letting his instinct lead the way has been fruitful for Kris Dunn, but if he didn’t quite realize it can be a detriment on occasion it smacked him in the face early in the preseason opener.
Diving for a loose ball, he found himself facing the scorer’s table Sunday night against the New Orleans Pelicans.
There’s been plenty of rightful conversation surrounding the expected shortcomings on defense and Dunn is one of the few who qualifies as a plus defender. And with coach Fred Hoiberg lauding so much praise on Dunn during the Bulls’ best stretch of the season last year, it’s easy to see Dunn wanting to lead by example with some of the things that aren’t so glamorous.
But even he realizes he has to exercise some discretion, especially since the games don’t actually count yet.
“When I did it in my mind I said, ‘What the (bleep)! It’s a preseason game, calm down,’” Dunn said at practice Monday. “But I don’t know why. I’ve only got one speed and that’s to play hard, and I’m working on it. I hope there’s no more fluke injuries.”
The cringe-inducing facial injury he suffered last season against Golden State, landing awkwardly after a breakaway dunk essentially finished his season. He lost a tooth and suffered a concussion that had lingering effects in what could’ve been valuable playing time alongside Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen.
And considering Markkanen is out for the foreseeable future with a right elbow injury, the Bulls can’t afford to lose any more impact players—especially their point guard.
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He hopes his aggressiveness on defense permeates to the rest of the team, especially LaVine, his backcourt mate. LaVine has come under scrutiny for his defensive play, which he has acknowledged was a point of focus this offseason.
And adding Jabari Parker to the first five will do nothing to dispel the belief the Bulls will be a top defensive team—or even a competent one.
“To Zach, you know I feel like he has the athletic ability and the speed to be a good defender,” Dunn said. “And I tell him all the time, ‘You know you can easily do it.’ It’s just a focus thing, a pride thing. {Sunday] night he got a steal and that’s something he can do very often because he is athletic and has the speed.”
Dunn was one of the league leaders in steals last season while possessing the length and instincts to be disruptive as a whole. And while that’s his calling card he also has to keep the two main scorers, LaVine and Parker, in a comfortable rhythm until Markkanen returns.
“I’m a pass-first point guard. I like getting assists, I like getting guys open, and I like when my guys stay good,” Dunn said. “It’s going to make the game easier for me, but at the same time there’s a lot of good point guards. You’ve got to keep them honest and you’ve got to be aggressive.”
Aggressive, to a point, though.