Over the first three years of his NBA career, Ayo Dosunmu developed into an active example of the sports mantra that progress isn’t linear.
The fourth-year Chicago Bulls guard has bobbed in and out of the rotation for his hometown team, from a stopgap starting point guard as a rookie to one of the last players off the bench the next season. That trend is likely to continue this season as the Bulls grapple with a new identity after parting with DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso over the summer.
And as he grows into his voice, Dosunmu is finding his footing as one of the leaders of a young Bulls roster.
“Sometimes guys can’t make that growth in that first or second year,” coach Billy Donovan said. “As much as you want to fast-track it, sometimes they just need to go through that. I think he’s ready for that part of (being a leader) now.”
Although he typically stays in Chicago for the summer, Dosunmu spent most of this past offseason on the move — traveling to Dallas to work with renowned trainer Tim Martin, then to the Miami Hoop School to train with his agency and finally to Los Angeles for a few weeks with teammate Coby White.
Most of this came from a desire to diversify his training while staying tapped in with Bulls teammates. But in early August, Dosunmu didn’t have a choice to train at home.
For nearly a month, the Democratic National Convention completely absorbed the United Center and its surrounding campus, which includes the Advocate Center, where locally based Bulls players typically train in the summer. Front-office staff worked from home for weeks while players were directed to make other plans for their training regimens during the interruption.
Dosunmu and White felt it was important for players to adapt to this disruption: If the Bulls couldn’t access their home base in Chicago, they needed to form a temporary one elsewhere. So the pair organized a player-led minicamp in Miami, hosting almost the entire team for five-on-five scrimmages, team dinners and a few rounds of paintball.
The trip reflected the duo’s new status as the leadership core for the Bulls, even though both are only 24.
“We just wanted to get everybody out on one surface,” Dosunmu said. “In the summertime, everybody is working on their game, but that’s a time where you grow more as brothers.”
Dosunmu will look different on the court this season, donning No. 11 for the first time in his pro career after ceding his lucky number to DeRozan as a rookie and wearing No. 12 instead. But he doesn’t feel his game needs to change much in the new-look Bulls offense, which is focused on setting a quicker pace that takes advantage of transition opportunities.
It’s unclear whether the Bulls actually will execute this plan. They set a similar goal last season to play up-tempo but quickly abandoned it and sank to 28th in the league’s pace ranking. But with a guard-heavy roster — and the departure of DeRozan, whose methodical approach to scoring defined the Bulls offense — this team is better equipped to run the floor and push the pace.
To adapt to this new style, Dosunmu spent the summer focused on shooting more 3-pointers off the dribble.
“That was something his career was really, really lacking,” Donovan said. “He didn’t really do that very much. He was straight up, catch it and shoot it.”
Shooting behind the arc was one of many offensive weaknesses last season for the Bulls, who finished 27th in 3-point production with 11.5 per game. Dosunmu is one of several players — including Patrick Williams, Zach LaVine and Josh Giddey — who can significantly improve that production this season.
But creating a threat behind the arc goes beyond just taking more 3-pointers. Dosunmu knows he needs to attack closeouts more aggressively — not always taking a shot every time a defender runs out to him, but always trying to make his opponent pay for giving him space on the perimeter.
“It’s something that’s very vital in today’s game,” he said. “A lot of people are afraid of my speed. It’s making me more dynamic. That’s you want to work for in this league. You want to be as dynamic as you can be so people can’t take away things.”
Even with this road map for improvement, it’s unclear how Dosunmu will fit into this season’s rotation. He will come off the bench again once Giddey is fully recovered from a torn ankle ligament, anchoring a unit that hopes to include Lonzo Ball for the first time in 2½ seasons. On a roster overloaded with guards, Dosunmu’s playing time could fluctuate again despite his growth as a locker-room leader.
But the Bulls need Dosunmu — if nothing else, on the defensive end. He might be their strongest perimeter defender after they traded Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Giddey. And although defense wasn’t DeRozan’s specialty, it was a consistent part of the veteran’s game.
Dosunmu posted a 114.9 defensive rating last season, averaging 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks. The only player still on the roster with a higher steal rate is Williams, who played 33 fewer games because of injury. This aspect of Dosunmu’s game could earn him more minutes, considering the relatively low defensive pressure brought by the likely starting three-guard combo of Giddey, White and LaVine.
The preseason — which began Tuesday night in Cleveland — will offer a glimpse of Donovan’s rotation plans, although the injury recovery timelines for Giddey and Ball will skew that information. Dosunmu already has adopted an open mentality toward this season.
“We all have to sacrifice as a whole to reach our goal, which is to win as many games as possible,” he said. “But it’s going to be fun. That’s the best part about it. You get a lot of talented players on the court and then we come out here and work. We’ve got to sacrifice and try to make it the best season possible for all of us.”
