After a quiet Summer League, the versatile wing heads to training camp to prove his defensive upside and perimeter shooting can secure a future in Portland’s rotation.
Barry Dunning Jr.'s first run with Portland didn't leave much of a statistical footprint.
He averaged 2.6 points in 9.5 minutes across five Summer League games, never scored more than six and shot 38.5% from the field. Nothing about Las Vegas screamed immediate NBA contributor.
Yet Dunning is still here.
The Portland Trail Blazers are bringing the 22-year-old wing into training camp, HoopsHype reported Wednesday.
This isn't a new relationship. Portland signed Dunning to an Exhibit 10 deal shortly after he went undrafted in June, with Summer League and training camp already part of the plan.
Vegas gave the Blazers their first extended look.
Camp should tell them something different.
Dunning's case was never going to be built around creating offense with the ball in his hands. At Pittsburgh, the 6-foot-6 guard-forward averaged 12.5 points and 5.9 rebounds across 33 games while shooting 46.6% from the field and 34.5% from three.
He also led the Panthers with 28 blocks.
That combination is probably what keeps the evaluation interesting.
Size on the wing. Rebounding. Some defensive production. Enough shooting to make teams respect him.
Dunning also improved from 31% from three at South Alabama the season before, giving Portland at least some evidence that the shot can continue moving in the right direction.
Summer League didn't provide much confirmation either way.
Dunning went 3-of-10 from deep and played fewer than 10 minutes per game. In that kind of role, there wasn't much room to command possessions … and that probably wasn't what Portland needed from him anyway.
Training camp presents a different test.
Can he defend without fouling? Can he make the right rotation? Can he knock down an open corner three after going several possessions without touching the ball?
Those are the things that can keep a fringe wing around.
The roster math, meanwhile, isn't especially forgiving.
That doesn't make Dunning's camp meaningless — two-way spots can change — but it does remove the easy path.
He isn't walking into camp with a vacancy to chase.
He is walking in with a player type Portland can still use.
The Blazers have no shortage of young guards and creators. What every roster can use is another wing who can defend, rebound and survive offensively without demanding much.
That's the version of Dunning worth evaluating.
Summer League wasn't impressive enough to answer the question. It also wasn't extensive enough to close the book.
Portland has already seen what Dunning looks like in a small role against Summer League competition.
Now it gets to find out whether those same skills hold up when the floor gets more crowded — and the margin for staying useful gets a whole lot smaller.
