Ayo Dosunmu ‘thankful’ to be named Bulls’ starting PG originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
From the 38th pick in the 2021 draft to now, roughly 16 months later, being named the full-time starting point guard for his hometown team.
After the Chicago Bulls’ preseason finale Tuesday night, a 127-104 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, Billy Donovan made a formality official: Ayo Dosunmu will take Lonzo Ball’s place in his team’s first unit to begin the regular season.
“I feel very comfortable with him,” Donovan said of Dosunmu. “Ayo right now is gonna be the guy back there for us. I think he’s done a really good job this training camp and preseason games.”
The tea leaves leading to this point have been ripe for reading for some time. Dosunmu has said he played mostly on-the-ball in the Bulls’ training camp practices and scrimmages. Donovan started him at point in each of the team’s four preseason games despite testing out different combinations at other position groups. And Dosunmu did play well, averaging 10.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and shooting 6-for-11 from 3-point range in 24.5 minutes per contest.
Still, Dosunmu flashed humility when told of Donovan’s decree by reporters in the postgame locker room.
“I’m thankful because this is a great organization and we have a chance to do something special,” Dosunmu said. For me to named the point guard of that, that’s a blessing.”
The job is not something completely new to Dosunmu. Amid a wash of backcourt injuries in 2021-22, he started 40 games as a rookie. Spending the majority of his offseason in Chicago with Bulls coaches, he worked hard to put on muscle, improve his jump shot and study the game to improve his floor-reading ability.
In the week before the Bulls’ regular-season opener in Miami on Oct. 19, Dosunmu says he will continue to pore over film of both his opponent and teammates to continue learning their tendencies and soon “be the main leader to get us going.”
“I just want to show that what I went through last year, I learned from it,” Dosunmu said. “Good or bad, I want to always learn from it. That’s how you get better. That’s how you get better as a person, on the court and off the court. It’s about learning from your mistakes and also learning from the positive things you did well.”
But regardless of how seasoned or mature the second-year guard is for his age, no one would deny he has big shoes to fill. In Ball’s indefinite absence, the Bulls will continue without one of their defensive anchors, sharpest outside shooters and foremost pace-pushers. He is fundamental to their preferred identity at both ends of the court.
Dosunmu can simulate some of that impact. But as any Bulls player will tell you, there is no clean replacement for what Ball brings.
“What I can do is go out there and be Ayo,” Dosunmu said. “That’s all I know I can do. Just go out there and be who I am to the best of my capabilities. And I can just go from there.”
As for any pressure he might feel, having been bestowed the dream job of many for a team with heightened expectations in 2022-23?
“Pressure comes when you’re not prepared,” Dosunmu said. “When you put the work in when the lights are off, I think you shine when the lights are on. And I put a lot of work into my game, into my body, into my mind. So I’m cool. I’m blessed. I’m relaxed. Because I put the work in. I don’t feel no pressure.”
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