On-Ball Demon

The new kind of defender your team can’t live without

The Clippers’ Kris Dunn has roared back into NBA relevance as one of the NBA’s most disruptive point-of-attack defenders. In advanced stats, Dunn is the fifth-most productive defender in the NBA. HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES

BY DAVID THORPE

Some stew of 3-pointers, Stephen Curry, and James Harden shifted NBA offenses into a new shape where defenders now have to figure out how in the hell to stop guards who are deadly from 3, killer on the dribble, aggressive getting into the lane, delighted to draw a foul, and skilled from the mid-range. Many of them are super-athletic, too.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Anthony Edwards are almost from outer space. But now almost every team has an attacking guard in the mold of Kyrie Irving, Tyrese Maxey, Tyrese Haliburton, Tyler Herro, or Jalen Brunson. Thirty years ago, the NBA didn’t have a single player with Coby White’s mix of shooting, foul-drawing, handling, and finishing skill. Today, there might be 30 players better than him at that.

And that’s why next week’s SEC tournament in Nashville will be one of the most heavily scouted events in basketball history, even though top prospect Cooper Flagg won’t be in that tournament, and neither will Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, or V.J. Edgecombe.

What might be there: the next On-Ball Demon like Kris Dunn, Alex Caruso, or Andrew Nembhard.