Are we starting Kris Dunn at PG?

[JazzyPhinz]

He seems to be the best fit to start with his defense and passing.
The rest of our guards are scorers and we need play making for the other starters.

[Inigo Montoya]

I doubt it. My guess is that Sexton will be starting, Dunn will back him up and THT will play spot minutes at the position sometimes. And maybe the Jazz will try Keyonte George as a PG too.

[HadAnEffectHere]

I doubt it. My guess is that Sexton will be starting, Dunn will back him up and THT will play spot minutes at the position sometimes. And maybe the Jazz will try Keyonte George as a PG too.

I'm sorry, but Sexton at PG just means we're really bad, lol.

This would be the worst passing team in NBA history.

[Inigo Montoya]

I doubt it. My guess is that Sexton will be starting, Dunn will back him up and THT will play spot minutes at the position sometimes. And maybe the Jazz will try Keyonte George as a PG too.

I'm sorry, but Sexton at PG just means we're really bad, lol.

This would be the worst passing team in NBA history.

I have hope for Sexton. He showed willingness to change his game last season when it was needed. He'll never be a true floor general but I'm not ready to write him off just yet.

[HadAnEffectHere]

I doubt it. My guess is that Sexton will be starting, Dunn will back him up and THT will play spot minutes at the position sometimes. And maybe the Jazz will try Keyonte George as a PG too.

I'm sorry, but Sexton at PG just means we're really bad, lol.

This would be the worst passing team in NBA history.

I have hope for Sexton. He showed willingness to change his game last season when it was needed. He'll never be a true floor general but I'm not ready to write him off just yet.

It's year 6, it's definitely fine to write him off as a playmaker.

[JazzyPhinz]

Dunn is our best option if we want to win.
He was giving us double digit points and was a very good assist man to end the year.
13pt/5.6 assists/4 reb is solid.
Surprisingly efficient shooting as well albeit on low volume.

[Inigo Montoya]

I'm sorry, but Sexton at PG just means we're really bad, lol.

This would be the worst passing team in NBA history.

I have hope for Sexton. He showed willingness to change his game last season when it was needed. He'll never be a true floor general but I'm not ready to write him off just yet.

It's year 6, it's definitely fine to write him off as a playmaker.

He missed a full season to injury and played for a bad team most of his career. People wrote off Markkanen too. I'd like to see how he performs this season.

[BigJimFinn]

I will just repost this here:

Summary for TL;DR: good as a backup PG and situational defender, bad as a starter.
Jazz need a much better lead ballhandler/playmaker than any of Dunn, THT, Sexton or JC.

I was happy to see Dunn work so well as a late addition to a team that lacked a PG, but also happy that Jazz didn't fall in love by giving him a long or overpaid contract. He should be OK as a backup, but as a 30 minute starter he would set a hard ceiling on your offense (and likely be less effective as a defender). I watched him play for the Bulls with Lauri for 3 years, so I won't be easily convinced he's now a totally different player.

The obvious main problem is his lack of shooting threat. A lead ballhandler who can't shoot threes off the dribble basically cripples your PnR game from the beginning, and any guard who takes 2 three-point attempts per 36 will hurt your spacing. Dunn is a career 31% shooter on very low volume of only catch-n-shoot 3s. He made 2 pull-up three-pointers for the Jazz; not 2 per game, but 2 in the 22 games he played. He shot a remarkable 47% on assisted, mostly wide open standstill looks; I can believe he's worked on his shot in the long years away from the spotlight, but that small-sample excellence is surely not sustainable, and on such low volume it wouldn't add much value anyway.

The other small-sample issue is the area where he actually does take shots. Over 70% of his attempts come in the paint, with short jump hooks, flip shots and floaters usually off two feet and after several patient dribbles. That's good, because that's where he is most effective: 52% with the Jazz in the 3-10' range, again 10% above his career level. At the rim, he made a fabulous 77%, or 18% above his career average, and this must have been a mirage. He's cut off almost all the mid-range jumpers he used to take, which is a very good thing and likely a permanent improvement. Again the lack of a pull-up threat just negates his ability to run PnR effectively.

So I believe that Dunn can provide competent ball security and passing as a PG and be a very effective defender especially pressuring weaker ballhandlers and creating havoc. He should be able to score against second units, just not at the high level of efficiency he showed in the short spell for the Jazz. If you trust him to be a starting PG for a team trying to make playoffs, you will be disappointed. His scoring efficiency, which I expect to regress anyway, would drop further against first unit defenses, and his aggressive gambling D would be punished more often.

[Jammer]

I will just repost this here:

Summary for TL;DR: good as a backup PG and situational defender, bad as a starter.
Jazz need a much better lead ballhandler/playmaker than any of Dunn, THT, Sexton or JC.

I was happy to see Dunn work so well as a late addition to a team that lacked a PG, but also happy that Jazz didn't fall in love by giving him a long or overpaid contract. He should be OK as a backup, but as a 30 minute starter he would set a hard ceiling on your offense (and likely be less effective as a defender). I watched him play for the Bulls with Lauri for 3 years, so I won't be easily convinced he's now a totally different player.

The obvious main problem is his lack of shooting threat. A lead ballhandler who can't shoot threes off the dribble basically cripples your PnR game from the beginning, and any guard who takes 2 three-point attempts per 36 will hurt your spacing. Dunn is a career 31% shooter on very low volume of only catch-n-shoot 3s. He made 2 pull-up three-pointers for the Jazz; not 2 per game, but 2 in the 22 games he played. He shot a remarkable 47% on assisted, mostly wide open standstill looks; I can believe he's worked on his shot in the long years away from the spotlight, but that small-sample excellence is surely not sustainable, and on such low volume it wouldn't add much value anyway.

The other small-sample issue is the area where he actually does take shots. Over 70% of his attempts come in the paint, with short jump hooks, flip shots and floaters usually off two feet and after several patient dribbles. That's good, because that's where he is most effective: 52% with the Jazz in the 3-10' range, again 10% above his career level. At the rim, he made a fabulous 77%, or 18% above his career average, and this must have been a mirage. He's cut off almost all the mid-range jumpers he used to take, which is a very good thing and likely a permanent improvement. Again the lack of a pull-up threat just negates his ability to run PnR effectively.

So I believe that Dunn can provide competent ball security and passing as a PG and be a very effective defender especially pressuring weaker ballhandlers and creating havoc. He should be able to score against second units, just not at the high level of efficiency he showed in the short spell for the Jazz. If you trust him to be a starting PG for a team trying to make playoffs, you will be disappointed. His scoring efficiency, which I expect to regress anyway, would drop further against first unit defenses, and his aggressive gambling D would be punished more often.

I watched Dunn extensively in Minnesota (there was a 3 year stretch where I watched about 200 Wolves games) and Chicago.

Everything BigJimFinn says is True.

However, of your PG options, Dunn is probably the most Team Oreinted right now.

Collin Sexton is a scoring PG, who looks for his own shots but only averages 2.8 assists per 24 minutes, so he's not really looking for or setting up teammates, despite being an efficient scorer (probably Top 3 Bench scoring PGs).

Taylor Horton-Tucker is a walking turnover machine in that he's got the same two main moves to penetrate, and players know them by now, and will start deflecting more balls. Personally I see no use for Horton-Tucker other than salary filler in a trade.

[dr0welf]

Tyrese Haliburton would be a perfect PG fit for this team..... Now if Ainge can pull of a trade

[mg]

I'm sorry, but Sexton at PG just means we're really bad, lol.

This would be the worst passing team in NBA history.

I have hope for Sexton. He showed willingness to change his game last season when it was needed. He'll never be a true floor general but I'm not ready to write him off just yet.

It's year 6, it's definitely fine to write him off as a playmaker.

He's played 5 years but was mainly injured the past 2 seasons. Before that played on an awful post Lebron Cav team. I'm not saying he's a pure PG but I did see improvement last season but it's unfortunate he got injured. He seems coachable, is super efficient and the only Jazz guard that can actually get to the basket and finish. At the very least he should get plenty of minutes regardless if he's a starter or not.

[D Rog]

Personally, I would hope that while Danny & Justin were on the phone with the Hawks they said "Hey, let's talk about a S&T Clarkson for Dejounte Murray".

[AGE1207]

I doubt it. My guess is that Sexton will be starting, Dunn will back him up and THT will play spot minutes at the position sometimes. And maybe the Jazz will try Keyonte George as a PG too.

I'm sorry, but Sexton at PG just means we're really bad, lol.

This would be the worst passing team in NBA history.

I have hope for Sexton. He showed willingness to change his game last season when it was needed. He'll never be a true floor general but I'm not ready to write him off just yet.

I think that the fact that we made Sexton available in trade talks is a pretty good indication of where we are heading.

[Inigo Montoya]

I'm sorry, but Sexton at PG just means we're really bad, lol.

This would be the worst passing team in NBA history.

I have hope for Sexton. He showed willingness to change his game last season when it was needed. He'll never be a true floor general but I'm not ready to write him off just yet.

I think that the fact that we made Sexton available in trade talks is a pretty good indication of where we are heading.

Meh. I imagine everyone on the Jazz other than Kessler and Markkanen were available to trade before the draft, and probably they still are. I'm not saying Sexton is like an untouchable core piece for the future but I've seen enough growth from him to be willing to roll with him as a starter for next season and see what happens, and if you can get a meaningful upgrade for him, then great.

[Crunch 99]

Yes, we should open the season with Dunn at starting PG. Now that we have Collins, we need a pass first PG more than ever. In his three starts last season (tiny sample), Dunn averaged an impressive 10 ast and 3 tovs, while Sexton averaged just 4.8 ast and 2.1 tovs in his 15 starts and THT averaged 5.9 ast and 3.6 tovs in his 20 starts. And Dunn is a dogged defender.

For the long term however, it is pretty clear that the Jazz are still experimenting, as well as keeping their eye out for a PG trade acquisition or draft pick PG. That the position is very unsettled is further evidenced by recently making Sexton available for trade, only signing Kris Dunn for one season and regularly starting THT at PG over Dunn.

[SoCalJazzFan]

I take Kris Dunn's past with a grain of salt. He had his limitations coming into the league, but was so injured and in bad situations over several years that it is hard to pigeon-hole him into that player forever. He seems to have changed his game over his GL stints and showed that while playing for the Jazz. It appears to me that he is trying to evolve his game, and has done so, potentially, to a certain degree.
Big Jim's comment on pull-up 3s is concerning, but I would love to see what he could do this year. He is the most natural PG we have on the roster, and someone needs to deliver the ball to the forwards, who will be doing most of the scoring, that we now have.
(Edit: the Jazz also need on ball/point of attack defense, and I don't see it with any of the other pgs on the roster).

[SoCalJazzFan]

Read on Twitter

[vtime]

I wouldn’t mind picking up CJ McCollum for the next 3 years. His deal declined every year, he can run the pick and roll, career 40% shooter from three and can really shoot off the dribble and close out games in the 4th quarter. Maybe trade Sexton and THT/Olynyk and a pick or 2, should get it done.

[stitches]

THT already opted into his contract for this coming season. We still don't know what Clarkson will do and wheather we will have him next year. We've also heard some weird rumors about the Jazz listening to Sexton offers, so we don't know if he will be with the team next year. Zanik stated that the Jazz might try to develop Keyonte George as a PG so he's another option...

From the players currently under contract for next year I think Sexton or THT are the favorites to start. THT had some nice stats in the games he started late last season, so it's possible he might win that competition. I think his passing is somewhat underrated and on a team without great passers it might be good to have a facilitator on that unit. IMO the absolute ideal situation is if Keyonte George grabs his opporunity by the horns and runs with it. I kind of doubt he will be ready to do that by the beginning of the season but... who knows? Maybe?

[stitches]

BTW, another option that's not being talked about much in Jazz media - Vasilije Micic. He's expressed desire to play in the NBA next year and the OKC hold his rights. They supposedly want a 1st for him... Since it seems like we prefer for the picke we owe them to convey in 2024, maybe they would be OK if we just drop the protection on the pick? Would you do that?