Summary

While Dunn was seen as a point guard coming out of the draft in 2016, his offense never developed to the point where you want him handling the ball much. A lot of that is due to his lack of shot-making ability, which also really hurts his off-ball value, but it also just has to do with Dunn not being much of a playmaker in general. He doesn't have great feel in the pick-and-roll, and doesn't have the ball-handling ability or quickness to really beat guys off the dribble. Therefore, Dunn has really become a wing, as he's big enough to play alongside point guards.

 

Where Dunn does add value is on the defensive end, as he has become an All-Defense level type of defender. He can lock down guys on the ball, and is also disruptive to force turnovers both on the ball and as a helpside defender. If Dunn can get his spotup shooting at a respectable level, he could become someone that could provide legitimate value as a rotational piece on a good team, if not a starter. If not, he may get ignored enough on offense that he becomes unplayable when the games matter most.

 

Cap Considerations

Dunn has a $5 million player option for next season, and if he declines that option he will be an unrestricted free agent with a $5.7 million cap hold and Non-Bird Rights. If Dunn opts for free agency, the Hawks will be somewhat limited in their means of re-signing him. Since they will only have his Non-Bird Rights, the most they could offer him using the Non-Bird Exception is a contract starting at $5.7 million. This should be enough to re-sign Dunn, but if it is not, the Hawks could use their $9.5 million Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception to re-sign him.

 

Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Dunn as even teams without cap space could possibly use any of the Non-Taxpayer, Taxpayer, or possibly even the Room Mid-Level Exceptions to sign him.