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James Jones pleased with Suns’ 1st-round draft moves

The Phoenix Suns could not have asked for a much better first round of the 2024 NBA Draft than what they had tonight.

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Phoenix was able to move back six spots after a trade with the Nuggets and draft a player that it liked in Virginia forward Ryan Dunn at No. 28 overall. The Suns also received the No. 56 pick in this year’s draft, as well as Denver’s 2026 and 2031 second-round selections in the deal.

Suns general manager and president of basketball operations James Jones met with the media following the first round and said he felt tonight “was a good night for us.”

“We were able to do two things tonight: get the player that we wanted moving back, and picking up other assets and capital for the future to continue to allow us to have more resources to build the team for the long term.”

Jones said the team entered the draft with these specific objectives: getting more athletic, adding more size defensively on the perimeter and obtaining more youth.

Phoenix got all of these things in Dunn. In his sophomore 2023-24 season, the 6-foot-6, 21-year-old Dunn, who is arguably the best defender in the draft, led the ACC with 2.3 blocks per game and also averaged 1.3 steals to go along with 8.1 points on 54.8%/20%/53.2% shooting splits, 6.9 rebounds and 0.8 assists. Dunn received ACC All-Defensive Team honors.

However, as is seen by his 20% 3-point clip and 53.2% free-throw shooting, there is a lot of area of improvement in Dunn’s shooting ability. Jones is confident Phoenix will be able to unlock this area of his game.

“He’s improving and what he was asked to do a Virginia was defend, and he relied on his athleticism,” Jones said. “The shooting isn’t where he wanted it to be or where we think it will be in a few years. But he’s an impactful player and great players find a way to impact the game, not just with the offensive box score.

“I’m confident with our staff, with (new coach Mike Budenholzer), our coaches, that he’ll be primed to improve as a shooter. If he can do that and do it quickly, I think we found a gem.”

A young, 6-foot-6 wing with a massive 7-foot-1.5 wingspan who can defend 1-5, is exactly someone you want to have next to star players like Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. Speaking of Durant, Jones said he will not be traded any time soon, despite the recent rumors.

Dunn wanted to be in Phoenix and Jones feels it’s a great fit.

“I spoke to (Dunn) post-draft, he’s excited. He can’t wait to get here,” Jones said. “I know how badly he wanted to be here in Phoenix. We got some time during the draft process when he worked out for us to sit and talk for 30 minutes just about his journey as a player and what he needed to do to be effective on this level.

“I think it goes without saying if you ask his coaches, his opponents, the kid’s a tireless worker. I’m fairly confident with this team, with the players that we have, the coaching staff, it’ll be a great fit for him, and he saw that fit. And most importantly, he was adamant (on) his desire to become an elite defender honestly, first and foremost. That’s something that I think we could we can really benefit from.”

What do the Suns envision with Dunn?

“The goal for us is to have an elite, lockdown defender, or at least someone that can take the challenge every day and make it extremely difficult on the opponent’s best scorer,” Jones said.

The second round of the 2024 NBA Draft begins tomorrow at 1 p.m. MST.

Suns select Virginia forward Ryan Dunn with No. 28 overall pick

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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau

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