Ryan Dunn’s third season in Phoenix feels like a turning point. The former first-round pick checks in at No. 3 on the Suns’ list of players with the most to prove, and the message is pretty clear: the runway is running out.
For Dunn, this is shaping up as a last stand in The Valley. The chance to settle into a steady role appears to have slipped away, especially with fellow 2024 draft pick Oso Ighodaro already carving out his place. Dunn, meanwhile, is still trying to find any real consistency, and the roster around him keeps moving forward.
That pressure only gets heavier when you look at the Suns’ direction. Coach Jordan Ott has shown a preference for veterans, but there’s also a new wave of young players pushing for minutes.
Khaman Maluach turned heads at Summer League and seems likely to spend less time in the G League and more time on an NBA floor. Rasheer Fleming looks like another player on the rise, already bringing more reliable offense and a better 3-point stroke, plus a quietly strong playoff showing against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Then there’s Koa Peat, who already has the look of Phoenix’s answer to Aaron Gordon if he proves worthy of the first-round trade-up that brought him in. Miles Bridges is in the mix too, another forward trying to earn an extension the way Dillon Brooks did this offseason. Add in Haywood Highsmith, who has also returned to compete for a bigger role, and the picture gets even tighter for Dunn.
If Dunn had shown he could be Mikal Bridges-lite, he might not be on this kind of list at all. Instead, the next batch of forwards and role players is arriving fast, and Dunn is the one most in danger of being squeezed out.
Still, the story doesn’t end there. If the Suns do move on, Dunn should get another shot somewhere else.
Across two seasons, he has shown enough flashes to suggest he belongs on the back end of an NBA rotation. The league doesn’t always hand out those chances, so Europe may be the most realistic next step if that’s where this goes.
Even then, his defensive value and the possibility that he can someday become a real “3-and-D” piece keep the door cracked. He might even follow a path like Nigel Hayes-Davis and work his way back to the NBA later.
In Other News...
Suns Just Raised The Stakes On Miles Bridges Fast
The Suns missed out on Jonathan Kuminga, but they still came away with a swing for the present in Miles Bridges, a player who arrives with both upside and a ticking clock attached. Phoenix is clearly trying to sharpen the roster around Dillon Brooks and add more scoring punch, and Bridges gives the front office another chance to see whether a bigger role can turn into something more lasting.
The catch is that this kind of move usually comes with a second decision not far behind the first. The Suns already showed with Mark Williams that they are willing to extend a player after trading for him, and Bridges could push them into a similar conversation if he settles in as one of the teams core pieces. The question now is whether Phoenix sees him as a short-term fit or as someone worth paying to keep around if his impact grows quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Kevin Durant Just Reopened A Brutal Debate About His Suns Run
Kevin Durants time in Phoenix is still being measured against the promise that came with it, and his latest reflections only sharpen that conversation. He said the Suns had the pieces to be successful and entered with championship expectations, but the results never matched the vision, and his exit to the Houston Rockets last summer marked the end of a short, high-profile run that never quite found its footing.
The most difficult part for Suns fans is how quickly the window closed on the Durant-Booker-Beal era, with the partnership never delivering the breakthrough the franchise was chasing. Phoenix did at least recoup real value in the deal, landing a top ten draft pick along with Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, but the lingering question around Durants Suns tenure remains the same one that followed him out the door. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Have A Jalen Green Problem They May Not Solve Soon
Jalen Green is heading into the season with a clear chance to reshape his standing in Phoenix, at least on paper. He is expected to start alongside Devin Booker, giving the Suns another explosive perimeter scorer to work with, but the early vision comes with some real fit questions. The roster already includes Miles Bridges as another high-usage option, which only sharpens the scrutiny on how Green and Booker can share the same backcourt space.
The bigger issue is that Phoenix does not have a clean exit ramp if the pairing never clicks. Greens trade market is thin right now, and his value has been dulled by the injury setbacks that limited him to a career-low 32 games last season. The Suns may eventually explore a sixth-man role to stabilize things, with a possible deadline move lingering as the sort of next step the front office could prefer to avoid if Green and Booker can find a workable rhythm. [Read more 🡒]