The 2025-26 season for Ryan Dunn was supposed to be about growth. About progress. About turning promise into something tangible. Drafted 28th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft, Dunn represents a real piece of the Suns’ future. This is a team without draft capital. A team that does not fully control its own first-round fate for another six seasons. That reality changes the math. Development is not optional. It is essential.
Which is why the Ryan Dunn conversation feels heavier than it should this early.
It is still too soon to lock in a final verdict. Development is not linear. Progress does not always move in straight lines. But it does feel like something has shifted, and not in the direction you would hope.
Dunn’s rookie season laid a reasonable foundation. He appeared in 74 games and started 44 of them. He averaged 19.1 minutes and 6.9 points per game, with 3.6 rebounds, 0.8 assists, and 0.6 steals. There was enough there to work with. The red flags were obvious, especially shooting efficiency. He finished at 43% from the field and 31.1% from three. That was the swing skill. That was the area for growth.
The second season began with optimism. Dunn started 11 of the first 16 games. His role expanded. At 24.1 minutes per night, he averaged 8.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.4 steals, while bumping his three-point shooting to 34%. It felt like traction. Then came the right wrist sprain. Five games missed. And since that moment, the arc has bent the wrong way.
He has not started a game since. In the 27 games following the injury, his minutes dropped to 17.6 per night. The production followed. 4.7 points. 4.0 rebounds. 0.7 steals. Shooting fell to 39.8% overall and 28.3% from beyond the arc. The contrast is sharp. Opportunity narrowed. Confidence looks shaken.
The recent trend is even more concerning. Over his last seven games, Dunn has averaged 13.7 minutes and shot 18.2% from three. That is not stagnation. That is slippage.
So functionally, he has played himself out of the rotation. His role has shrunk into something narrow and specific. A short stint late in the first quarter, a brief look early in the second, then sporadic minutes if the flow allows it.
I have seen it up close. This looks like a player without confidence. And confidence usually disappears when repetitions do. Being played out of the lineup is not random. It is earned. Other players are stepping in and giving consistent effort paired with shot-making. That combination is what makes this team go, and Dunn in being left behind.
Here is the contrast. Defense is the baseline in this system. You have to disrupt. Jump passing lanes. Pester. Compete. Ryan Dunn has shown that before. He has not shown it consistently lately. And even when the defense shows up, survival in this offense requires one more thing. You have to make threes.
Look at Jordan Goodwin. Look at Isaiah Livers, the player who has jumped Dunn in the rotation. Even with the Suns lacking size, especially at the forward spots, those players stay on the floor because they marry defensive intensity with shooting. That is the currency.
Which brings us to the uncomfortable but practical idea. A G League stint might help. Not as a demotion. As a reset. More reps. More shots. More game speed confidence. When you watch Dunn shoot, the foundation is there. He is squared. The release is quick. The mechanics are clean. The ball simply does not go in. Last season, he shot 31.1% from three. This year, he is at 30.8%. That is not growth. That is regression.
None of this means the Suns should give up on him. Not even close. That is not who this organization is. That is not the path they take with young players. If anything, this moment demands more intentional development. More investment. And that circles back to patience.
With the trade deadline approaching, attaching Dunn to a deal should not be the move. He does not move the needle financially. He might appeal as a project, but he is not the piece that swings a trade. More importantly, he is part of the future. That requires time. It requires reps. It requires that word again…patience.
And yes, that can be frustrating to watch. I feel it too. But development rarely looks clean in real time. Sometimes it looks messy. Sometimes it looks like this.
This is the moment where restraint matters most. Ryan Dunn is not a finished product, and he was never supposed to be one this quickly. The Suns do not need to solve him, fix him, or move him. They need to commit to him. Reps over reactions. Development over discomfort. Because the same patience this season demands from the organization is the same patience it will eventually reward. And if the Suns believe Dunn is part of their future, then this is not the time to rush the conclusion. It is the time to stay the course.
