How Suns' Top Pick Can Emerge as X-Factor

The Phoenix Suns need their first-round pick in more ways than one.

Forward Oso Ighodaro interviews forward Ryan Dunn during the Suns Summer League at Verizon 5G Performance Center on July 9, 2024, in Phoenix. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

PHOENIX -- On a team full of star players, the Phoenix Suns will need their supporting cast to step up if they're going to make good on their potential for the upcoming 2024-25 season.

That includes Phoenix's first-round pick in Ryan Dunn, according to Bleacher Report.

"The Phoenix Suns operate as if the 2030s don't exist, so isolating any aspect of their approach that considers long-term goals is tricky," Grant Hughes wrote.

"We'll default to No. 28 selection Ryan Dunn, whom Phoenix acquired along with the No. 56 pick for No. 22 on draft night. He doesn't come with significant offensive upside, but he proved last year at Virginia that he has game-changing defensive abilities.

"Very few 6'8" forwards hoard blocks and steals like the 21-year-old, and it's not so hard to imagine a Phoenix team with three scoring stars seeing the value in a defender as versatile and impactful as he is.

"To truly matter now or in the future, Dunn will have to either hit a respectable percentage of his threes or find ways to generate offense by crashing the glass and creating transition chances with deflections.

"We've seen players such as Matisse Thybulle carve out big roles that way, so the blueprint for Dunn at least has a precedent."

Dunn's ability to generate any offensive impact can help push him from good to great in future projections - as Hughes pointed out, we saw at Virginia just how strong he was defensively.

Thankfully, he has time to develop and will not be counted on by the Suns as a vital contributor from Day 1.