Kris Dunn says he'd be happy to be drafted by Celtics, denies rumors to the contrary


In May, a rumor circulated that Kris Dunn's agent was trying to steer him away from teams with established point guards by withholding medical records, specifically the Celtics and Suns.  Last week, Austin Ainge said that the rumor (and not seeing Dunn work out in person) wouldn't affect Boston's decision of whether or not to take the former Providence Friar with the third selection in the draft.

Today, Dunn told Adam Himmeslbach of the Boston Globe that he would gladly come play for the Celtics:

I mean it would be unbelievable to be selected by the Celtics. My dream is just to get drafted, and that I have a chance to be a top-five player, it’s a blessing. 
I think that’s just a rumor going around. That never came out of my mouth, that I didn’t want to play for any team. 
They have great players. You definitely can tell they’re defense-oriented. I don’t know Marcus Smart that well, but I played with Marcus Smart at multiple things, AAU at the time, and high school in the McDonald’s All-American game. And Isaiah Thomas was an All-Star this year. You can see they’re on the rise and close to something special. I’m gonna be anxious to see what they do next year.

There appear to be six guys in play for Boston at No. 3: Dunn, Dragan Bender, Jamal Murray, Marquese Chriss, Buddy Hield and Jaylen Brown.  Four of the six have already worked out for the C's and Bender is scheduled to on Tuesday.  Dunn is the only one of the bunch that Boston isn't expected to get a face-to-face look at.

However, Dunn also spoke with Jay King of Mass Live this morning, and it sounds like there's at least a chance (although seemingly slim) the Celtics could still get to see him in person before next Thursday's draft:

Me and my agent are just trying to figure out what we should do with the workouts. We still have enough time to work out for teams. Really we're just trying to open up requests to other players to see who will come work out against me because I'm trying to show I can play both ends of the floor. Because I'm a competitor. But it's been really fun so far. The process, I've been enjoying it.

I'm open to anything. I don't think that's true that I don't want to work out 1-on-0. Like I said, I just want to show off my competitive nature. I definitely don't have a problem working out with Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram, or any top prospects, because I want to show teams I'm ready to go against anybody. And it'd be cool to play against top-five or top-10 guys because I just want to show off my competitive nature, and I didn't get to play against those guys in college because I was in the Big East and they're in different conferences. So I'm just open to anything right now.

That quote is clearly directed at a recent report from ESPN Insider's Chad Ford:


More from King:

The main reason why the medical information could be important: Dunn has had shoulder issues in the past. He said he believes those are behind him.

"I would like to think so," he said, crediting the Providence training staff. "I haven't felt anything since those two mishaps my early years of college. So right now I'd have to say I'm 100 percent."

Regardless of whether or not Dunn is 100 percent healthy and interested in being a Celtic, this should be enough of a red flag for Boston to pass on him.  It's not as if he's the consensus "best available" guy--Danny Ainge has five other good choices on the table (which is why I think he should trade down).




Follow Mark Van Deusen on Twitter @LucidSportsFan

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