Ayo Dosunmu will undergo surgery on his left shoulder that will cause him to miss the remainder of the season, the Bulls announced (via Twitter).
The team describes Dosunmu’s condition as “left shoulder instability.” He was able to play 23 minutes in Friday’s game against Toronto, but he missed the previous three contests and was already declared out for today’s meeting with Indiana due to the shoulder issue.
The 25-year-old shooting guard is in his fourth NBA season after being selected out of Illinois with the 38th pick in the 2021 draft. He appeared in 46 games this year, making 26 starts and averaging 12.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists with .492/.328/.785 shooting splits.
Dosunmu is earning $7MM in the second season of a three-year, $21MM contract. He will make $7.5MM next season before becoming an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2026.
The release from the Bulls doesn’t specify when Dosunmu’s surgery will take place or how long his recovery is expected to take.
The loss of Dosunmu creates another challenge for Chicago, which is trying to hold onto the East’s final play-in spot. At 24-36, the Bulls are up by two and a half games over Philadelphia and three games over Brooklyn in the race for 10th place.
Tre Jones is likely to get most of Dosunmu’s minutes, according to K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link). Jones, who was acquired from San Antonio last month, is averaging 7.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists in eight games since the trade.
In a hypothetical league made up of the 50 states plus Puerto Rico & Canada, how would Illinois fare with a squad of guys like FVV/Ayo/Christie/Strus/TShannon/Matas/ADavis? Surely they would make a 24team playoff. But how far could they go? Would they be the best team in the Midwest? Could they potentially upset a big dog like Cali, NC, Canada, Texas or Ga?
Big 10/Chi-Town legend… link to m.youtube.com
No
Ayo is 6’5. Jones is 6’1 and has been getting decent minutes. Terry and Phillips are 6’7 – 6’8 and should get more minutes, based on matchups that Billy Donovan uses in his rotations.
IMO Ayo has not gotten a fair shake in the town, mostly due to this win at all costs path the Bulls take so they can fill up their stadium with people likely to be disappointed, Id rather see the plan of give the guys chance, play out the season, good and bad times and see what they have. Not just yank them if they make a mistake or have a few games where they under-perform, you never find out who the good players are IMO if you do that.
The Bulls should be playing all their young guys and hang the attempt at the playoffs… Get a better Draft pick and try to build this team correctly (again). Though this GM is a dud and should have been gone last season.