Bucks may have found ideal prospect ahead of 2024 NBA Draft

Day by day, the list of prospects the Milwaukee Bucks have worked out ahead of the 2024 NBA Draft continues to grow.

Thankfully, the good people over at HoopsHype have created a tracker to help everyone stay up to date on who teams are working out. The list updates almost daily, and one of the latest entries for the Milwaukee Bucks is among the most interesting additions yet.

Per the tracker, the Bucks have worked out Virginia's Ryan Dunn, who is the second-highest-ranked prospect (25) they've eyed. The only prospect above him is Duke's Jared McCain, who is 14th and likely to be off the board well before the Milwaukee Bucks are on the clock.

How would Ryan Dunn fit with the Milwaukee Bucks?

The Milwaukee Bucks need more youth, athleticism and defense this off-season. They could get all three of those and then some from Ryan Dunn.

To many, Dunn is categorized as the best defender in this entire class. The 6-foot-8 forward was an absolute terror for opponents this past season, guarding players of all shapes and sizes by utilizing his electric athleticism and length to take on any matchup. He averaged 2.3 blocks and 1.3 steals per game, which is beyond impressive for a player of his size.

He'd give Milwaukee the versatile perimeter threat they've been longing for on the defensive side of things for what seems like an eternity. Watching the Western Conference Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves, it was clear to this writer that the Bucks needed to find their own version of P.J. Washington and Jaden McDaniels, and Dunn could be that.

It would be a great change of pace to finally have a lengthy, athletic forward who boasts impressive height and length rather than relying on undersized and unathletic wings to guard some of the best scorers in the world. Dunn could take on those top-tier matchups and hold his own, bolstering one of the weakest points of this Milwaukee roster over the past few years.

The big reason Dunn isn't ranked higher is because he's not much of a threat offensively, having put up 5.5 points with a nearly non-existent 3-point shot during his two college seasons. That has turned some off, but it shouldn't deter the Bucks too much. With Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton, the team has go-to scorers. They don't have too many go-to defenders.

Along those same lines, Dunn could rejuvenate Milwaukee's small-ball lineups. Since the title run all those years ago, the Bucks haven't utilized their smaller lineups quite as well, and a big part of that has been due to their lack of a quality small-ball forward who can play next to Antetokounmpo. Dunn could fill that void, giving the team a switchable forward who can defend anyone.

For those worried about the offense, the Bucks won the NBA title in 2021 with P.J. Tucker, a starter, averaging 4.3 points while shooting 38.8 percent from the floor and 32.2 percent from long range in the playoffs. When a player makes an impact defensively, they'll get on the floor in the big moments, especially considering just how starved this team is on that side of the basketball court.

Ryan Dunn should be rather high on Milwaukee's wish list leading up to the 2024 NBA Draft.