NBA Future Watch: Ayo Dosunmu Basketball Cards, Chicago Bulls

NBA Future Watch: Ayo Dosunmu Basketball Cards, Chicago Bulls– Ayo Dosunmu is the rare example of a player who personifies Chicago basketball at every level. He competed in the city in his youth, then in the shadow of the metro area at Illinois for his college play, and now back to the United Center for his pro career. The son of Nigerian immigrants, at every level Dosunmu has impressed with his motor and his ever-expanding sphere of abilities at both guard positions. Dosunmu wasted little time establishing himself as a future prospect in high school with a 40-point effort as a freshman.

State championships in Dosunmu’s junior and senior seasons marked him as one of the city’s elite talents of the 2010s, with a state-record 28 points in the title game in his final season. Additionally, Dosunmu was able to earn opportunities playing against fellow elite competitors, with invitations to the Jordan Brand Classic and the Iverson Roundball Classic All-American Game.  Dosunmu also captured gold in 2018 with the USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team.

Rated alternatively as a four-star and five-star prospect by scouting services, Dosunmu chose the Illini and proved to be the rare example of a Chicago kid who came in and elevated the program. Steady improvement through Dosunmu’s first two seasons set the table for a breakthrough in Year Three: becoming the third player in program history to achieve a triple-double and then repeating the feat, leading Illinois to a Big Ten Championship and earning tournament Most Outstanding Player honors along the way and achieving Consensus First-Team All-American status, the USA Today National Player of the Year award and the Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s finest point guard. Dosunmu improved year-over-year in PPG (13.8 to 16.6 to 20.1), RPG (4.0 to 4.3 to 6.3) and FT% (.695 to .755 to .783).

Dosunmu also progressed to 5.3 APG by his senior season. With a three-year college record, Dosunmu slid to the Bulls with the 37^th pick despite a Top Ten resume as longer-established players sometimes do. With an established Chicago rotation, Dosunmu unsurprisingly received sparing minutes early, but seized his 21:49 of playing time on November 1 to post 14 points and four rebounds.

Subsequently, injuries and COVID-19 protocols have opened up more time for Dosunmu, and his 3% of .415 assures that opportunities will keep coming. Long proven as a shooter, a lethal weapon in transition and as a defender, Dosunmu still has room to grow as a playmaker. In his shot selection, he chooses the mid-range more than today’s analytics would prefer. Continued improvement in those areas and in Dosunmu’s half-court game will place him firmly in the pantheon of Chicago’s favorite basketball stars and in the league’s upper echelon for many years to come.

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Rick Morris

Rick Morris is a veteran of sports and business media from the Cleveland area.A graduate of the E.W. Scripps School of Communications at Ohio University, he is the Managing Partner of FDH Enterprises, LLC, which contains fantasy sportswriting at FantasyDrafthelp.com and all-subjects podcasting at TheFDHLounge.com.

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