Chicago Bulls: Is Ayo Dosunmu poised for a year 2 breakout?

The Chicago Bulls are a mysterious team heading into the 2022-23 season. After going all in at the trade deadline a year ago by acquiring All-Star Center Nikola Vucevic, many thought the Bulls were going to finally start acting like a big market team by surrounding Zach LaVine with the talent he needs to get the Bulls back in playoff contention.

While Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley made good on that vision in the 2021 summer by signing Lonzo Ball, DeMar DeRozan, and Alex Caruso, their inactivity at the 2022 trade deadline and silence amidst the crazy NBA superstar movement so far this summer have raised concerns about how much the Bulls are truly committed to contending for a championship.

Much of the logic, which I frankly agree with, describing their silence in free agency has to do with the fact that the Chicago Bulls, when last seen healthy, were the number 1 seed in the East.

No, they did not play well against the top teams but they were getting battle tested and had the makings of a team that could continue growing over the next few years en route to contention.

Unfortunately, a barrage of injuries to Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, Zach LaVine, and the long-term absence of Patrick Williams shined a brighter light on the lack of frontcourt depth, shooting issues, and quality on-ball defenders which ultimately led to a major collapse to close out last season.

With the Bulls’ issues on top of mind as the season ended, the inactivity on the free agency market outside a couple of lowkey signings in Goran Dragic and Andre Drummond has most of us wondering if the Chicago Bulls are even a lock to be a top-6 seed this upcoming season, especially as the rest of the Eastern Conference has gotten stronger.

One factor though that hasn’t been given nearly enough consideration regarding the Chicago Bulls 2022-23 outlook, is the continued development of Ayo Dosunmu.

Ayo, drafted 38th overall a year ago, shocked the Bulls’ fanbase and the NBA community by stepping up in the face of injuries and ultimately being selected to the All-NBA Rookie 2nd team.

It was clear that he had hit a rookie wall after the all-star break but now going into his second season, Ayo may be poised to take a leap.

The Chicago Bulls had 6 players selected to The Athletic’s top 125 NBA players, including Ayo Dosunmu.

Seth Partow of The Athletic recently broke down the top 125 NBA players into multiple tiers. The Chicago Bulls, as one would expect, placed multiple players on this list including Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, and Nikola Vucevic.

However, in addition to these five, Ayo Dosunmu was also listed. Given that there are 30 teams in the NBA and 5 starters per team, Ayo’s inclusion on this list indicates that he is already viewed as a quality NBA starter.

It’s clear that there is a lot of optimism surrounding Ayo heading into his sophomore season as evidenced by his placement here and his widely regarded work ethic.

On a separate note, Patrick Williams was a noticeable omission from this list – showcasing even more why this season might be make-or-break for him as a blue-chip prospect and reliable contributor for this Chicago Bulls team.

While it appears the expectation has been set for Ayo going into his second year – also a contract year – he is apparently having a monster offseason and is a lock for a spot in the rotation as per the Bulls Talk podcast with KC Johnson and Rob Schaefer (07/26 episode).

If the Chicago Bulls come into the season healthy and stay healthy, they’ll have the following depth chart:

Guard: Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine, Alex Caruso, Ayo Dosunmu, Coby White, Goran Dragic

Forwards: DeMar DeRozan, Patrick Williams, Dalen Terry, Derrick Jones Jr., Javonte Green

Centers: Nikola Vucevic, Andre Drummond, Tony Bradley, Marko Simonovic

If Ayo Dosunmu (and also Patrick Williams) take the leaps everyone is expecting and projecting them to take, perhaps the Chicago Bulls may actually be able to replicate some of the magic that propelled them to the number one seed a season ago.