Photo caption: Ayo Dosunmu (credit: NBA)
In recent news, the Chicago Bulls re-signed guard Ayo Dosunmu to a multi-year deal. In accordance with team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.
According to the Chicago Bulls, Dosunmu, a 6-4, 200-pound guard, was drafted 38th overall in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft and has averaged 8.7 points (.506 FG percent, .344 3FG percent), 2.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 0.8 steals in 26.3 minutes through 157 games (91 starts) from 2021-23.
The organization said Dosunmu also earned consecutive NBA All-Star Rising Stars selections during his rookie and sophomore seasons, becoming the eighth player in team history to garner multiple invites to the Rising Stars game.
The Bulls said he is the only guard in team history to shoot at least .490 from the field in each of his first two seasons in the league and appeared in the most games by a Bulls’ player over their opening two seasons since Taj Gibson.
The Chicago native tallied clips of 8.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 0.8 steals in 26.2 minutes over 81 games (51 starts) in 2022-23, according to the team.
Dosunmu was one of three, second-year guards with at least 400 points in the paint and ranked third in field-goal percentage (.493) among the same group. He posted a .805 shooting percentage from the free-throw line, making him one of eight NBA guards a year ago to shoot better than .490 from the floor and .800 from the charity stripe (min. 60 games played). Among all players from the 2021 NBA Draft class, Dosunmu ranks eighth in assists (462), eighth in steals (122) and 14th in points (1,366) across the last two seasons.
Dosunmu played three years collegiately at the University of Illinois, earning a 2020-21 Consensus All-America First Team selection, while being named the 2020-21 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year as a senior. He was a two-time All-Big Ten honoree (First Team in 2020-21, Second Team in 2019-20) and was named to the 2018-19 Big Ten All-Freshman team.
Joseph Phillips is the Sports Editor for the Chicago Crusader Newspaper. He is a Chicago native, who has been a sports writer for over 17 years. He also hosts the SC Media News and Sports Network Q&A radio show on WHPK 88.5 FM Chicago.
