{"id":130950,"date":"2025-09-04T00:23:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T00:23:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/130950\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T00:23:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T00:23:05","slug":"kris-dunn-brings-more-value-than-anyone-in-the-league-at-key-skill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/130950\/","title":{"rendered":"Kris Dunn brings more value than anyone in the league at key skill"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5n\">Although there is a <a href=\"https:\/\/clipperholics.com\/award-snub-confirms-clippers-ivica-zubac-most-underrated-player-nba\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">valid argument that Ivica Zubac should have won<\/a> the Most Improved Player of the Year award for last season, Dyson Daniels had just as strong a case, with a campaign that was also finalized for Defensive Player of the Year. Overall, either player had an equal chance of winning, and Daniels was a solid pick.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5q\">One of the reasons Daniels won was his strong perimeter defense. He is a sensational defender who has a comparable IQ to Marcus Smart, in his prime with the Boston Celtics, except Daniels is longer, stronger, and led the NBA in steals, making him the champion of the season in that category.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5t\">However, Daniels also led the NBA in deflections, and the gap he created was by nearly 200. This is absurd, yet the Hawks are soon going to pay him, lining his paycheck with his production.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5w\">Moreover, Daniels may have the deflections crown, but he is not the only one who is an expert at poking the ball out of a player\u2019s hands. The LA Clippers have their own in Kris Dunn, and he finally showed out on a winning team.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5z\">Granted, <a href=\"https:\/\/clipperholics.com\/took-1-minute-kris-dunn-prove-clippers-were-right-bench-him\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dunn has flaws that Daniels may not<\/a>, but concerning salary, the Clippers\u2019 star defender brings more value than anyone in the NBA when it comes to totaling steals and deflections.<\/p>\n<p>Kris Dunn is on one of the best contracts in the NBA for the LA Clippers in the sole regard of deflecting the rock<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"65\">Forcing a deflection requires a defender to master when to time their hands based on how close the ball is to the hardwood. Kris Dunn did it 236 times last season, finishing ninth in a skill that is key for any defensive-minded player to have.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6b\">Furthermore, the Clippers have Dunn under contract for roughly $5 million per season. This is a quality bargain, and LA benefits more because, in 2026-27, the last of his three-year deal, which was agreed upon by the Utah Jazz, is not guaranteed.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6e\">This means Dunn will be under pressure to show up and remain healthy, a factor that has not existed with the teams he has played for. In fact, the former lottery pick only played four games with the Atlanta Hawks.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6h\">That said, <a href=\"https:\/\/clipperholics.com\/kris-dunn-perfect-example-why-nba-should-change-all-defensive-criteria\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dunn\u2019s value is top-tier<\/a>, and though he sometimes faces trouble in shooting and playmaking, the Clippers\u2019 front office must keep him rostered until his contract is over.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although there is a valid argument that Ivica Zubac should have won the Most Improved Player of the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-130950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}