Ayo Dosunmu might fast-forward Chicago Bulls’ rebuild
Like many Chicago Bulls fans, Ayo Dosunmu is looking forward to seeing Zach LaVine again on Wednesday when his former teammate returns to the United Center for the first time since being traded to Sacramento last February.
“Yeah, I last saw him at (Alex) Caruso’s wedding,” Dosunmu said Monday of the Oklahoma City Thunder star and former Bull’s August nuptials. “So when he comes to town, that’ll be fun, too.”
But instead of toasting Caruso together, Dosunmu will likely guard LaVine when they’re both on the court.
Is he also looking forward to trying to stop his old friend from doing things like Zach?
“I take every game the same,” Dosunmu said matter-of-factly. “I try to stop anyone in front of me.”
It seems like yesterday that Dosunmu was the bright-eyed rookie learning the ropes from LaVine, Caruso, DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball on this 2021-22 Bulls team that found itself atop the Eastern Conference standings in January until Ball’s season-ending knee injury led to a late slump and a first-round exit in the playoffs.
But things have changed dramatically since then, and as the 2-0 Bulls faced the Atlanta Hawks on Monday at the United Center, Dosunmu was one of four players remaining from that playoff team, along with Nikola Vučević, Patrick Williams and Coby White, who is sidelined with a right calf injury.
There are no big stars anymore, but it’s a collective unit that hopes to live up to what Dosunmu said is their motto: “Strength in numbers.” The bench scored 58 points Saturday in a win at Orlando, which could be a potential model for success if coach Billy Donovan opts for a 10- or 11-man rotation, as he has so far.
Starter Matas Buzelis struggled in Orlando, forcing Donovan to respond early, but the bench responded with solid play from Patrick Williams, Dosunmu and others.
“It was good to see them respond, but in different situations we might have different guys in the starting lineup, different guys closing out games,” Donovan said Monday. “It’s really the way the game is played, who plays well.”
As the anchor of the second team, Dosunmu is tasked with keeping the rhythm intact, playing his usual solid defense and adding some offense when needed.
Dosunmu got off to a poor start offensively last year, shooting 18.6 percent from 3-point range (8-for-43) in his first nine games. A few months later, an MRI revealed a fracture in his left shoulder that he said had been affecting him for about a year. The shoulder required surgery in March, ending his season and sending Dosunmu into a long and grueling rehabilitation.
Dosunmu only played 46 games in 2024-25, but recorded career highs in points (12.3), rebounds (3.5) and assists (4.5). Still, his 3-point shooting was below average at 32.8 percent after a rough start, and that was part of his game that Dosunmu knew he needed to improve.
“I definitely had a lot of time to sit and think during my shoulder surgery,” he said. “I thought about it, and when I was able to shoot, I put a lot of work in, just to understand what it takes, being able to space the floor and what that brings to the team, and also being able to balance that with going downhill.”
In Saturday’s 110-98 win at Orlando, Dosumnu hit three 3s in the fourth quarter, including two in the final 4:12 to help seal the deal.
With White out for perhaps three more weeks, Dosunmu’s ability to be more than a defensive-first guard will be tested. We saw what he could do as a focal point at Morgan Park and the University of Illinois, but he was never in the spotlight on teams featuring LaVine, DeRozan and White. This needs to change for the sake of the Bulls, even if he comes off the bench.
But when I asked him if he felt the need to take over some of the offensive slack with White leaving, Dosunmu hedged.
“I don’t really see it that way,” he replied. “I just go out there and play my game. We really miss Coby. Knowing him my whole life, I’m excited when he comes back. I just go out there and I’m aggressive, and when it’s my opportunity to shoot, I shoot with confidence.”
Donovan said White feels no pain and is able to shoot during practice. It’s the stopping and starting that still affects him, which Donovan called a “delicate” balance when it comes to the rehab process.
“If he crashes the wrong way, it’s that explosive step that got him to where he felt the tension again,” Donovan said, adding, “Then you need to step aside.”
The Bulls are quickly learning to play without White, their primary 3-point threat, just as they finally learned to play without LaVine last winter after the trade. That’s when Buzelis began to step up and Josh Giddey became their most consistent scorer, while White continued his best season overall.
The strong finish to the season convinced executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas that only minor adjustments were needed in the offseason, so the Bulls didn’t make much progress last summer in what everyone agreed was a rebuilding year.
Of course, AK wasn’t counting on White leaving to start the season, which only increased the degree of difficulty for the Baby Bulls.
But a 2-0 start heading into Monday was something they could build on, even if it’s going to take a lot more wins for them to convince Bulls fans that this team is as good as they seem to think.
“We want to be a cohesive team,” Dosunmu said. “We’ve laid the foundation for what we want to be as an organization. The next step for us, if we have success, like we did in the first two games, is ‘How can we combine that by playing the same way, and even going higher?’
Reaching higher ground is something few believed the Bulls were capable of heading into the season.
They learn on the fly how to play together, and where they land will be fun to watch.
