6:53pm: Dosunmu received a guaranteed two-year, $2.48MM contract, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. That’s a minimum-salary deal, which would leave the mid-level open for Simonovic.
1:38pm: The Bulls have officially locked up a pair of second-round picks, signing guard Ayo Dosunmu and forward/center Marko Simonovic to their first NBA contracts, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.
Dosunmu, 21, played his college ball at Illinois, spending three years with the Fighting Illini before declaring for the draft following his junior season. He averaged an impressive 20.1 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 5.3 APG on .488/.390/.783 shooting in 28 games (35.1 MPG) in 2020/21 and was selected 38th overall by the Bulls in the 2021 draft.
Simonovic, meanwhile, was the No. 44 pick in the 2020 draft, but played in Serbia for one more season before making the leap to the NBA. The 21-year-old big man, who confirmed earlier this week that he’d be signing with the Bulls, put up 15.7 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 1.7 APG, and 1.0 SPG in 25 games (31.6 MPG) for Mega Basket in the Adriatic League in 2020/21.
Terms of the two deals aren’t yet known, but the Bulls had less than $1MM of their mid-level exception left after signing Alex Caruso using most of the MLE. That means they’ll be able to give one of their rookies a three- or four-year deal, but will be limited to two years for the other (via either the bi-annual exception or the minimum salary exception).
The Bulls now have 12 players on under contract, with Lauri Markkanen‘s restricted free agency still to be resolved.
AD is a sneaky dark horse for MVP
Nice….MVP of what the D League? He will be lucky to make the active roster. Do wish him the best but the Bulls are pretty stocked at his position.
Stop it. Get some help.
…in last years big10 season.
As a Bulls fan, I love your enthusiasm! Be realistic though.
Tell us your story Jess. You meant that for a Lakers page or something.
100% sure on that one…lol
Either that, or maaaaybe he meant ROY, but even thats a faaar stretch.
Right now, Ayo is about the 5th/6th guard on the depth chart with Brown and after LaVine, Ball, Colby, Caruso…He isn’t likely to get.much playing time this season at all.
Maybe with his long wing span they could use him as a wing, where they are lacking quality bodies after Derozan, but still, he ain’t touching the sheer amount of opportunities Green and Cunningham are getting..That’s laughable
Don’t think Ayo can’t compete and even be a start late season under Donavan