It’s only a matter of time before the rookies are giving Mike Budenholzer no choice but to play them.
I cannot express the content feeling that entered my heart when Phoenix Suns first-round rookie Ryan Dunn shot an off-the-dribble jumper from a Miles Plumlee dribble-handoff on his first possession in the NBA.
It didn’t go in, but Dunn’s shooting profile at Virginia ranged from conservative to hesitant, so this display of willingness and decisiveness was a welcome one considering the hope that his preseason performance instilled.
It was part of a tight overtime win on Wednesday, 116-113, over the Los Angeles Clippers in the new Intuit Dome.
That content feeling stuck around as he first took the defensive assignment of James Harden, who was quickly subbed out and shifted Dunn’s assignment to shifty guard Kevin Porter Jr. He had nice moments against both throughout the game.
Ryan Dunn sequence locking up Harden then scoring on a nice cut
One of my favorite 2024 draftees pic.twitter.com/HYEdhSqXBW
— Matthew Brune (@MatthewBrune_) October 24, 2024
It didn’t take long for second-round rookie Oso Ighodaro to make his presence felt when he got his first minutes either, working some two-man game with Bradley Beal before getting a backtap for an offensive rebound that led to Dunn finding Grayson Allen for 3.
The two teamed up to force a Porter Jr. miss on the next possession. Dunn forced a miss from Kris Dunn (no relation) on the very next time down and pushed Porter Jr. into a desperation look to end the quarter.
If you’re sensing a trend, good. That’s a solid handful of eye-catching moments for two rookies picked outside the top 25 of the 2024 NBA Draft, all in less than a quarter of action.
The second quarter got off to a weird start with Ighodaro and Nurkic sharing the floor to combat the Clippers’ combo of Nic Batum and Ivica Zubac. Ighodaro was noticeably self-aware, correctly spacing the floor for what the rest of the team was setting up around him by floating closer to or further away from the paint.
They would go on to get limited action as they finished with the lowest minute totals of the 11 Suns who saw the floor, and neither played in the fourth quarter or overtime. But it feels like Phoenix scouted its way into two really valuable players later in the draft who can contribute immediately.
Dunn finished with two points, two rebounds and one assists in nine minutes while Ighodaro had two points and six rebounds, but their impacts felt much greater than their statlines — including one block apiece — would indicate.
Royce O’Neale was the Suns’ first wing off the bench and he played about triple the minutes the rookie did, but I see it as a matter of time before that honor belongs to Dunn. The same can be said about Ighodaro and Mason Plumlee, the first big off the bench for Phoenix on Wednesday.