Guard Help Wanted

[Who]

I'd love to bring in a 3rd guard to play in the backcourt along with Pritchard and D White.

I thought Pritchard and D White were great for us this year in terms of controlling the offense, protecting the ball and sharing the ball with others. I like them as a starting backcourt. I felt we missed something when we went away from that after the trade deadline and moved Pritchard to the bench. When we went to that 1 guard 3 wings 1 big configuration instead.

I also loved the dynamic the team had with Jrue Holiday when we had 2 versatile two-way combo guards as starters with Pritchard as 6th man. That was awesome.

I'd love to either (1) re-create that balance in the backcourt we had with Jrue with Pritchard off the bench or (2) bring in a 3rd guard behind Pritchard and D White in order to keep them as starters.

Have more ball-handling. More passing. More help for Tatum & Jaylen in running the offense.

Any ideas on who we might be able to target?

Two defensive options in free agency

* Marcus Smart
* Kris Dunn

or

* bring back Anfernee Simons as a heater off the bench

Any other ideas?

[celticinorlando]

Agree. Guard play needs to be upgraded.

[michigan adam]

Great theory. Only works if you can get the ball out of the Jay's hands, especially JB. Not sure there is much hope in that.

[Larry for 3]

Great theory. Only works if you can get the ball out of the Jay's hands, especially JB. Not sure there is much hope in that.

Isn?t that why you have a coach?

[michigan adam]

At the end of the day a coach is all words. His only action for discipline is to take them from rhe game, which is not easy to do with stars. An upset star or an absent one is not helping you win. JT is an excellant creator, if not a dribbler. JB is worse at both. Both are above passable, but we need better. As much as I have been a Jay's supporter, I'm starting to lean to a trade JB guy. He is just too limited in his skill set, and inefficient in his creating for others. JT is more willing to get 12 assists and score less if that's what the D gives him. JB is a "I'm getting mine or else" type of guy. Jt is the better team player.

[Roy H.]

If we want defense at the point of attack, I really like Dunn.

If we're hoping to spend the MLE or TPE to get a sixth man type, Simons, McCollum, Powell or Sexton all offer similar skills.

There aren't a lot of "true" PGs on the market.

[slamtheking]

don't be surprised if the 3rd guard ends up being Harper because he's cheap and familiar with the team's schemes.   i like the kid and think he could be a good end of bench guy but I highly suspect this next season's priority will be to stay out of the tax to reset the repeater tax and using Harper as that 3rd guard will help in that regard.

[Celtics4ever]

* Kris Dunn

Kris Dunn is a local favorite but he is a journeyman.  He did improve his shooting to 37% this year.  His career defensive rating was 109, this year  during the 2025-26 season, he maintained a 115.8-116.7 defensive rating.  Which indicates a slight decline.

Marcus is not the 104 def rating either anymore he was a 117 this year.

For reference White was a 113 this year.  Pritchard has a 116 and Brown was a 113.  Which means those guys are not much better than what we have.

I do agree we need some guard help, I am just for the sentimental/local guys picks and I love Marcus Smart.

[Roy H.]

* Kris Dunn

Kris Dunn is a local favorite but he is a journeyman.  He did improve his shooting to 37% this year.  His career defensive rating was 109, this year  during the 2025-26 season, he maintained a 115.8-116.7 defensive rating.  Which indicates a slight decline.

Marcus is not the 104 def rating either anymore he was a 117 this year.

For reference White was a 113 this year.  Pritchard has a 116 and Brown was a 113.  Which means those guys are not much better than what we have.

I do agree we need some guard help, I am just for the sentimental/local guys picks and I love Marcus Smart.

DRtg is so dependent upon lineups, though.  There's no really good metric regarding individual defense.  I know Dunn's Clippers teammates have been pushing him for All-Defense this year.

[Who]

If we want defense at the point of attack, I really like Dunn.

Yes, me too. Dunn is a nice budget option to shore up the backcourt.

If we're hoping to spend the MLE or TPE to get a sixth man type, Simons, McCollum, Powell or Sexton all offer similar skills.

It sounds like Atlanta is going to pay to keep McCollum. Probably Miami and Norm Powell too.

Colin Sexton would be a great alternative to A Simons.

[SparzWizard]

If we want defense at the point of attack, I really like Dunn.

Yes, me too. Dunn is a nice budget option to shore up the backcourt.

If we're hoping to spend the MLE or TPE to get a sixth man type, Simons, McCollum, Powell or Sexton all offer similar skills.

It sounds like Atlanta is going to pay to keep McCollum. Probably Miami and Norm Powell too.

Colin Sexton would be a great alternative to A Simons.

Imagine we get Sexton, he whom we traded for Kyrie Irving back in 2017 in which we acquired from the infamous Danny Ainge highway robbery deal with Billy King

[Who]

On that Athletic player poll, they asked who the best defensive player in the league was. Wemby obviously won. He got 41% of the vote which actually feels low.

Anyway, tied in 2nd place was Kris Dunn with 4.6% of the vote (tied with Kawhi). Then it was 4 way tie between Ausar, Scottie Barnes, Jaden McDaniels, Cason Wallace (4%). Then Toumani Camara (3.3%). Then a 3 way tie with Jrue, Amen, Herb Jones (2.6%). Next 4 way tie Gobert, Anunoby, Dyson Daniels, Lu Dort (2%).

A pretty good list of the top defenders in the league. I do agree that Kris Dunn deserves to be on it.

[slamtheking]

On that Athletic player poll, they asked who the best defensive player in the league was. Wemby obviously won. He got 41% of the vote which actually feels low.

Anyway, tied in 2nd place was Kris Dunn with 4.6% of the vote (tied with Kawhi). Then it was 4 way tie between Ausar, Scottie Barnes, Jaden McDaniels, Cason Wallace (4%). Then Toumani Camara (3.3%). Then a 3 way tie with Jrue, Amen, Herb Jones (2.6%). Next 4 way tie Gobert, Anunoby, Dyson Daniels, Lu Dort (2%).

A pretty good list of the top defenders in the league. I do agree that Kris Dunn deserves to be on it.

interesting that White didn't garner any mention there.  wonder if it's just general disregard for his defense or reflective of what appeared to be a drop off in his defense this year

[Who]

On that Athletic player poll, they asked who the best defensive player in the league was. Wemby obviously won. He got 41% of the vote which actually feels low.

Anyway, tied in 2nd place was Kris Dunn with 4.6% of the vote (tied with Kawhi). Then it was 4 way tie between Ausar, Scottie Barnes, Jaden McDaniels, Cason Wallace (4%). Then Toumani Camara (3.3%). Then a 3 way tie with Jrue, Amen, Herb Jones (2.6%). Next 4 way tie Gobert, Anunoby, Dyson Daniels, Lu Dort (2%).

A pretty good list of the top defenders in the league. I do agree that Kris Dunn deserves to be on it.

interesting that White didn't garner any mention there.  wonder if it's just general disregard for his defense or reflective of what appeared to be a drop off in his defense this year

White got 0.7% of the vote. There were 14 players there including Chet, Bam, Giannis, Naji Marhsall, D Clingan, Mikal Bridges. So some pretty strong defenders there.

There was a group just ahead of D White and below the ones I mentioned with 1.3% of the vote. 4 guys. S Castle, Keon Ellis, B Coulibaly, E Mobley. 

[Celtics4ever]

Keep in mind player polls with vote more for guys they play against.   It is not that scientific.

Dunn 's performance has been all the place his career.  He has defended pretty well as constant.

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/2991139/kris-dunn

His career averages are 7.9 PPG, 3.9 APG, 3.3 RPG, 1.6 SPG, and 1.5 TO on 44.3 FG % and 33.7 3P %. in 24 mpg per game.  Is this worth $5,684,800  for his salary?

He has been on six teams in ten years and he is 32 years old.  He is not a free agent so you would need to trade for him

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/player/_/id/20210/kris-dunn

We don't have a ready match for his salary and I for one don't think he is worth taking money back on the cap for him.  You could trade one of Baylor or Jordan for him but that is patently absurd, I think and taking an additional 3.204, 323 back for him is wise.  I would not waste a trade exceptional on him either. 

We need to predatory on teams looking to shed cap space.  Sometimes you can get a decent player for a second round pick in these cases.  We can do way better than Kris Dunn.