There’s no doubt that the Phoenix Suns pulled off one of the steals of the NBA Draft this summer when they acquired Ryan Dunn with the 28th pick in a draft night trade with the Denver Nuggets. The hope was that his two-way potential could make him the next Mikal Bridges, and Dunn delivered on that early.

In four games played, he has already managed to make one start due to Bradley Beal’s injury, while the 43.8 percent he is shooting from three-point range on four attempts every night has already exceeded expectations for the rookie in this category has surpassed. Dunn didn’t shoot the three with much confidence or volume (less than one per game) in college, but that has quickly changed.

The defensive end is where Dunn will make a name for himself – he already looks like this skill alone will give him a long career in the league – and it’s also the reason many fans have lobbied to put him in the starting lineup places. line-up. He’s not nearly as good as Beal, who has looked back to his early best, but he provides much better balance to the starting five.

This has already been on display, with Dunn joining Tyus Jones and Devin Booker to give the Suns a much better two-way threat with those guys on the court together. That leads to the stat below, which is without a doubt the most impressive stat a Suns player has achieved so far in this young season.

That number above is frankly astonishing, and the kind of return this organization would have hoped for — at best — from Dunn by the end of this season. Ensuring that players at the All-Star level are actually shooting 1-of-4 shots also seems untenable, but the fact that this has happened at all is incredibly encouraging.

It also partly explains why the Suns are 3-1 to start the campaign – and while Kevin Durant’s scoring prowess will get more credit – this is the number that raises this group’s ceiling. Imagine what previous head coach Frank Vogel could have come up with had he had Dunn on the roster last season.

The Suns are off to a good start defensively and are currently ranked fifth with a 108.3 rating. Dunn is a big reason for that; his ability to guard elite scoring wings at an above-average pace so early in his career is a huge bonus. It is also not the case that the Suns have played a game, now that there are already two meetings with the Los Angeles Lakers on the horizon.

They also beat the LA Clippers with a James Harden who does everything at his ease, while also knocking off the Dallas Mavericks and Luka Doncic. If Dunn can continue to keep that number as low as possible when he is the primary defender, the calls to put him in the starting lineup will become even louder.

As it stands, he’s already made fans forget that Eric Gordon was on this roster last season, while the idea of ​​going after P.J. Tucker isn’t nearly as appealing as it used to be. Why go after a veteran who will only gain minutes from Dunn, a man who is already capable of defending players that Tucker no longer can?