The Minnesota Timberwolves are finalizing a trade for Chicago Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu, two team sources told The Athletic.
Minnesota will send guard Rob Dillingham, forward Leonard Miller and four second-round picks to Chicago in the deal while also receiving forward Julian Phillips.
This is an essential move for Minnesota, which needed to bolster its bench. Dosunmu could be what Nickeil Alexander-Walker was for the Timberwolves last season (Alexander-Walker signed with the Atlanta Hawks as a free agent last summer).
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The Bulls remain active, having moved on from veterans Coby White, Nikola Vučević, Kevin Huerter and Dosunmu, as well as fourth-year guard Dalen Terry. In addition to draft compensation and other players, the Bulls have acquired four combo guard players who are 6 foot 3 or shorter in those deals: Jaden Ivey, Collin Sexton, Anfernee Simons and Dillingham.
Dosunmu, who turned 26 just a couple of weeks ago, was Chicago’s hottest trade asset. He’s midway through a breakout season, averaging career bests in points (15.0) and 3-point percentage (45.1 percent). On a Bulls roster that prided itself on guard depth, Dosunmu was both a stellar sixth man and a proven stand-in for the starters, with his leap in shooting efficiency never coming at the expense of his frequent downhill drives.
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Dosunmu is in the final year of a three-year, $21 million deal. On his current trajectory, he seemed destined for a payday hovering in the range of next year’s midlevel exception. Chicago now avoids negotiations with Dosunmu and new Charlotte Hornets guard Coby White, whose contract was also set to expire. Minnesota now takes on Dosunmu’s Bird rights, making it easier for them to re-sign him.
While Dosunmu’s age didn’t necessarily push him out of Chicago’s timeline, the Bulls trading him away aligns with their focus at this week’s deadline: acquiring younger talent and picks. The Bulls have acquired nine second-rounders this week after this deal, and have 14 tradable second-rounders in total. They also have two first-round picks this season, and their own first-rounder in each draft through 2032.
To acquire Dosunmu, the Timberwolves moved on from Dillingham. Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly paid a steep price in 2024 to obtain the eighth overall pick in the draft from San Antonio and select Dillingham. The Wolves gave the Spurs their 2031 unprotected first-round pick and a 2030 swap because Connelly believed Dillingham, 21, could be the team’s point guard of the future.
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That was before the Wolves acquired another guard, Donte DiVincenzo, in the Karl-Anthony Towns-Julius Randle trade, which took many of the minutes that would have been allocated to Dillingham.
The undersized guard and coach Chris Finch never meshed. Dillingham barely played at all as a rookie and only spent a brief time in the rotation this season before being exiled to the bench in favor of Bones Hyland.
Dillingham has an NBA first step, but his limitations defensively and struggles shooting (33 percent from the field this season) have kept him glued to the bench.