Ryan Dunn Is The SECRET To Phoenix Suns SHOCKING Reload Attempt

Ryan Dunn Is The SECRET To Phoenix Suns SHOCKING Reload Attempt

When you’re talking about the future and the now of the Phoenix Suns, there are a lot of names that come up first. Evan Booker, Jaylen Green, number 10 overall pick in the draft. Come on, Malawatch. But there is a name that the Suns now and the future relies on a ton. And we’re breaking it down here today on a trending edition mini pod here of PHNX Suns. It’s Eric coming to you live from my home studio. You know what to do. Hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button. Thank you so much for being here. If you’re on audio, five star ratings and reviews. Of course, you already knew that though. I’m talking about Ryan Dunn today. And if you are a fan of the show or if you’ve been following along for a little bit now, A, thank you. B, you know I’m a big fan of Ryan Dunn. And I know that there are some jokes and if you are in on the jokes, then you know the jokes from our postgame shows that we do throughout the entire season, but overall on a serious note, I do believe in Ryan Dunn as a player. And I also believe that if Ryan Dunn is able to take a secondyear leap, that will go leaps and bounds for the Phoenix Suns. as far as shocking the NBA, the Western Conference, their fans, maybe even their internal expectations this season, but also set a great great foundation for the future. But why? Obviously, when you talk about Ryan Dunn, you look at the defense first. Uh when he was going out in the draft and PHX Suns was covering the draft, we were told that he was one of, if not the best defensive prospect that this scout has ever seen in college basketball. That’s high praise. That’s extremely high praise. But the main knock with him and why he went so late in the first round and why a lot of teams were hesitant to take Ryan Dunn was his jump shot or at least his lack of offensive capabilities. Now, he was coming out of Virginia, which is a school not known for their offense, but the jump shot mechanically looked okay, but there were air balls. There were air balls in the free throw line. You didn’t expect a lot out of him even going into the season. you said if he could shoot, you know, 20 to 28% from three on some attempts per game, you’d be somewhat satisfied. Now, coming into the season, the first half of not the first half, maybe the first couple of months, he was a lot hotter than usual, including an extremely hot stretch right off the bat. And then his rotation minutes started getting messed with by Mike Budenhoer, leading to an unceremonious benching around February of last season along with fellow rookie Oso Igdaro. and that really put a wrench in his inseason development. Now, when he hit the court, he still played well, but when you talk to NBA players and you listen to NBA players talking about a shooting rhythm a lot of the times they say, “Well, you need the rhythm. You need to know when you’re getting the minutes, how you’re getting the minutes.” And that just wasn’t happening for Ryan Dunn. So, he ended his rookie season not a disappointment by any stretch of the means. In fact, I think he surpassed a lot of people’s expectations for what he could bring as a rookie. part of that out of necessity being really the best point of attack perimeter defender on a team that was desperately in need of a point of attack perimeter defender. But offensively, he completely surpassed expectations as well. Now you’re looking him looking at him in summer league in year two going into this. He looks more aggressive. His rebounding is up. He’s driving to the rim. Now his three-point shot still needs some work, but you feel a lot more comfortable about that as a fan of the team or if you’re just a scout watching him play. And if he is able to cement himself as a starting small forward and possibly your starting small forward of the future, even though he might be playing the four a little bit this season, that changes the Phoenix Suns rebuild/reload trajectory. It changes the trajectory of this season. If Ryan Dunn takes what I think is on the table, which is a secondyear leap. If he takes a secondyear leap and bumps up his three-point percentage, bumps up his points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game, which are all tools that he showed. He’s not a bad passer, is he Chris Paul? Is he Devin Booker? No. But he’s a decent passer who doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. He’s above average rebounder from the eye test perspective, offensive and defense, as far as nose for the rebounds, going up and getting put backs. Even got a put back off of his own free throw miss in summer league. I think that’s maybe the most underrated part of his game and I’ve brought that up multiple times. And his aggressiveness and driving to the rim, right? He caught a body. He posterized Giannis. He’ll run in transition. He’ll match this high energy, highpace system the Phoenix Suns want to implement with Devin Booker, Jaylen Green, Mark Williams, Dylan Brooks, Jordan leading the way. And presumably starting at that three or that four spot is Ryan Dunn. If Ryan Dunn can cement himself as one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, which we all agree, or at least I think that you agree, he has the tools to do, and he can continue his upward trajectory on offense and maybe even exceed expectations for a second season in a row, we’re talking about a mainstay alongside Devin Booker, a POA defender at that small forward position. Maybe he proves this season he could defend the four. I even liked some of the small ball five lineups that Ryan Dunn was thrown into. And I really think and I know we’re banking a lot on him and I think when you talk about so many wild cards with the Suns whether it’s Jaylen Green or Mark Williams or Kaman Malawatch or whoever it is a lot of the times the conversation leads you to well I bank on Jordan not being a better coach than Mike Benhoer. Now that being said, we have not seen Jordina Knott coach a minute for the Phoenix Suns at the time of this recording, but we did see a lot of Mike Benhozer and it’s a pretty low bar to clear, especially with the rookies, especially with Ryan Dunn. As much as we all love Oso Igodaro, and we think Oso Igdaro deserved his chance as well, it’s clear that Ryan Dunn had earned that more. He was a firstround pick. He has more discernable NBA skills and less discernable NBA weaknesses than Oso Igodaro, who trust me, we’ll be covering Oso Igdaro in its own his own trending mini pot. I think he’s one of the most fascinating players in the NBA. But if you walk out of this season thinking to yourself that you now have the small forward of the future next to Devin Booker as he then enters his age 30 season next year, continues his prime and gets closer to that massive massive extension which the Suns want to be competing for a championship when that extension hits. Hell, they probably want to compete for it now even though others don’t want them to. They want them to take the slow process. He accelerates a lot of things and obviously you could say that about Kaman Malawatch but he’s a number 10 overall pick. You expect him to take a leap. Not this year but hopefully in the next couple of years after that you can look at Osuo Gdaro and say yeah he’s fascinating but he’s a second round pick. So is Rasher Fleming. So is Kobe Brea and while I like all of those players Ryan Dunn is still your best chance immediate impact now. And I think that with him putting in two a days this summer with OSO to have a coach who he can actually work with and vibe with and honestly having to take some of that veteran leadership that maybe he got in college and he brought to summer league being a good quote unquote summer league vet for Kaman Malawatch and you know for Kobe Brea for Rashir Fleming and the rest of the crew you can tell that he’s an integral part of the Suns organization and their future plans. But just how good can he be? Can he make that secondyear leap? I think he can. And you know what? I’ll go out there and I’ll say that he will. But what does a secondyear leap look like to you? Drop a comment. Leave a like. Let us know what you think about Ryan Dunn. Let us know what you want us to talk about this summer. Because at the end of the day, PHX is for the fans, by the fans. We’re here for you. So, make sure you let us know down in the comments. You can follow us at phnx_sons on Twitter, on Instagram. Let us know there. You can let me know. Or you could just yell at me and tell me that I’m stupid at either on audio. Thank you again. Love you. If you’re listening to this while running or watching this while running, keep running. That’s an ongoing joke I’m making now because I know a lot of people listen to podcasts when they work out. Keep going. You can do this. And guess what? You can also check out more videos. We’ll be here for you. Don’t go anywhere.

After trading Kevin Durant and stretching Bradley Beal’s contract, the new look Phoenix Suns will have an opportunity for a new player to take the next step. No one on the roster is better suited for a leap than forward Ryan Dunn, and if he can make that leap, this secret weapon can help Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns shock NBA fans in 2025-2026.

Erik Ruby brings you a weekend trending mini-pod.

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