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NBA DRAFT 2016

June 23, 2016

Kris Dunn

Brooklyn, New York

THE MODERATOR: If you could start out with an opening statement about what you'll bring to the Wolves.

KRIS DUNN: The first thing I feel like I could bring to the Wolves is my defense. I always tell people that's my greatest strength, and that's one thing you can control every game. Someone is just coming in who's having that dog mentality. That's what got me here, the hard work, playing with that grit and that toughness. And I feel like I can distribute a ball and I feel like I can score if the coach needs me to score.

Off the court I just bring that great personality I feel like. My personality resonates. It has in high school and college.

Q. What was it like sitting there waiting, and what was kind of your feeling when you finally heard your name?
KRIS DUNN: Yeah, you just get anxious. You get nervous. You don't know what team is going to pick you, and once my name got heard, you could see me and my family were very emotional. It took a long time to get to this point, and my dream is finally real, and I'm just happy I made my family proud today.

Q. Has it kind of sunk in to you? I know Minnesota was one of the few teams you actually worked out with. Has it sunk in yet? Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony, what that team actually is?
KRIS DUNN: Yeah, actually it kind of has. I've been talking to Karl Towns through the draft process because he's part of the agency that we're with, and he's a great guy. He gave me a lot of advice through the process. And like you said, they're a young team, very gifted, Zach LaVine, Andrew Wiggins, Shabazz, Karl Towns, they have a lot of great pieces, and I'm just coming in ready to work.

Q. Are you the guy that's going to bring it all together?
KRIS DUNN: I have no idea. I'm just coming in to work. Whatever happens happens. I'm just blessed to be here.

Q. How do you think you fit with that talent they have with Wiggins and Towns and LaVine and all those athletes?
KRIS DUNN: Yeah, I think you said it right there, all those athletes. Athletes like to play up and down, and that's how my game is. I like to play at a fast pace, that up-tempo. We're all young so we're all going -- I think it's going to make the relationship even stronger because we're all trying to learn together, we're all trying to build together, and we're going to try to compete every game.

Q. Kris, a Providence Friar hasn't been drafted this high in some time. What does that mean to you?
KRIS DUNN: It means a lot. Providence College is one of the best schools in the country for a reason. The people at Providence, they believe. They support, they show so much love, and the fact that I was able to do this not for me and my family but for everyone in Providence, it means so much because I understand what they mean to me, and I wouldn't be here without none of those people.

Q. Have you ever crossed paths with Matt Harvey?
KRIS DUNN: Yeah, definitely with Matt Harvey. When I played football for my high school in my freshman and sophomore year, my quarterback was Jordan Reed, who's the tight end of the Redskins. This is just the start. There's so many great talent that's all over the ECC, Groton and Waterford. So I'm not going to be the first of them.

Q. Have you spoken with Harvey at all?
KRIS DUNN: I haven't spoken to him recently, but Jordan Reed definitely have.

Q. What's something that Coach Cooley taught you that you will carry with you to the next level?
KRIS DUNN: Stay true to yourself. You know, off the court I'm very goofy, I like to laugh, and I can make people smile. He always told me, "Never let that leave you. Always show your personality because it definitely resonates." And then on the court, "Just keep that mentality. Just keep being that dog because that's what got you here," and that's what I'm going to try to do.

Q. Have you fantasized at all about playing Steph Curry, Chris Paul and some of the amazing guards in the West?
KRIS DUNN: Definitely. You know, the NBA I think is guard-dominant. There's so many great point guards in this league that you have to be excited for all of them, and you've got to bring your "A" game each and every game because there's so many great guards. I'm going to try to attack them, see where my game is at because, you know, the only way you learn how good you are is by going against them as hard as you can and see what you need to improve on in the future.

Q. You shouted out JC Penney before. Are you a frequent shopper of department stores?
KRIS DUNN: Yeah, actually I do, and actually a lot of my friends do, too. This suit is actually made by JC Penney. The person is J. Ferrar. It's a great suit. They did something special for me. I told them I wanted to represent New London in a special way. They carved some of my jersey from New London High School, and they put it in this suit, so I thought that was pretty special.

Q. How much does the fact that you came back for that extra year and actually got your college degree, what kind of advantage do you think that's going to give you in the league?
KRIS DUNN: I mean, the first advantage is getting my college degree. The basketball definitely is going to stop and I have something to lean on, and that's my college degree and my major. I feel like I learned more by coming back. I learned more about the game. I learned more about myself. I think I became more mature mentally and physically, and I got to improve but also just to be a kid one more time before this lifestyle is going to get hectic. I understand that. I just wanted to be a kid one more time.

Q. You're going to be facing a lot in the upcoming weeks. It's going to get even crazier. Do you think you're ready for that?
KRIS DUNN: Definitely. That's the reason why I went back to school. I feel like I want to be ready for that because I think I would have still been missing school, but now I'm ready. I did my four years, and it's time to let go. I understand it's a business, and whatever I have to do, I've got to do it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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