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For the second time in the span of three days, the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves have linked up for a trade involving guards. In this deal, the Bulls are sending Ayo Dosunmu and Julian Phillips to the Wolves in exchange for Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller and four second-round picks, according to ESPN.
Previously, the Wolves sent Mike Conley Jr. to the Bulls (since flipped to the Charlotte Hornets) as part of a three-team deal involving the Detroit Pistons.
As the two Midwestern squads continue to reshape their rosters — for opposite reasons — let’s take a closer look at this latest deal with some trade grades.
Timberwolves: B+
The Wolves’ backcourt concerns became obvious on opening night when Conley, who had been their steady starting point guard for the last two-plus seasons, came off the bench and only played 12 minutes. Now 38 years old, Conley was a shell of himself when he did get on the court.
Conley’s decline opened up opportunities for the likes of Bones Hyland, Terrence Shannon Jr., Jaylen Clark and the aforementioned Dillingham, and Chris Finch gave all of them a shot in the first half of the season. Only Hyland has even come close to running with the opportunity, and even at his best he’s a streaky offensive player.
The 32-20 Wolves are coming off back-to-back Western Conference finals appearances and look like a formidable playoff team again. However, it’s clear they need to upgrade their roster to get over the hump, which is why they’ve been desperate to jump into the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes. Aside from trying to acquire one of the best players in the world, they’ve also been looking to upgrade their backcourt situation, and finally settled on Dosunmu.
A second-round pick back in 2021, Dosunmu has spent his entire career on a mediocre and uninteresting Bulls team, and has had to fight for playing time with the likes of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Coby White and Josh Giddey, all of whom have garnered more attention.
During his time in Chicago, Dosunmu has steadily improved and is now one of the most underrated guards in the league. Through 45 appearances this season, he’s averaging a career-high 15 points, three rebounds and 3.6 assists on 51.4/45.1/85.7 shooting splits.
Dosunmu can run pick-and-roll, operate as a spot-up threat and loves to get out in transition, and that versatile skillset will make him a perfect fit for the Wolves. He can run their second unit and take on a good chunk of those playmaking responsibilities, but will also have no trouble playing next to Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle.
Additionally, Dosunmu boasts a 6-foot-8 wingspan and has the ability to be a pesky point-of-attack defender. He may not be on the same level as some of the Wolves’ elite defenders such as Jalen McDaniels and Rudy Gobert, but he can hold his own.
The 26-year-old Dosunmu will be a free agent this summer, and you would expect the Wolves to re-sign him after giving up Dillingham, Miller and four second-round picks to acquire him. Crucially, they now have his Bird rights, which means they can go over the cap to sign him to a new deal.
Dosunmu is a great pick-up for the Wolves, and will make them a much better team. If there’s any slight criticism of the deal, it would be the aggregate cost of acquiring him.
In 2023, the Wolves traded a Utah Jazz 2026 second-round pick and their own 2028 second-round pick to get Miller from the San Antonio Spurs. In 2024, they traded a 2030 first-round pick swap and an unprotected 2031 first-round pick to get Dillingham from the Spurs. Now they’ve sent both of them, along with four more second-round picks, to get Dosunmu.
Miller and Dillingham never worked out, so it makes sense to move on and get someone who can help them in the playoffs this season and be a part of their rotation for years to come, but the all-in cost of an unprotected first-round pick, a first-round pick swap and six second-round picks for Dosunmu is steep.
Bulls: C-
The Bulls were well on their way to another 39-win season and a Play-In Tournament berth, but decided to change course this week and became sellers. Nikola Vučević, Coby White, Kevin Huerter and Dalen Terry have all been sent out in the last few days, and now Dosunmu is on the move.
Chicago should have fully committed to this route years ago, and waiting until Vučević, White and Dosunmu, in particular, were on the final years of their contracts has limited what they could get in return. Additionally, the Bulls’ long-term plan is unclear considering that they’ve acquired almost exclusively guards in these deals: Jaden Ivey, Anfernee Simons, Collin Sexton and now Dillingham. And they already have Josh Giddey and Tre Jones signed to long-term deals.
In a vacuum, the Dosunmu return is fine. He’s a very nice player, but opting to trade him instead of giving him a big extension is an understandable decision. Dillingham is a former top 10 pick, Miller is still young enough that he’s worth a flyer and four second-round picks are useful.
However, it’s impossible to consider the Dosunmu deal in a vacuum. The Bulls have already acquired three small guards this week, all of whom are better than Dillingham, the centerpiece of this deal. And, again, they have Giddey and Jones on the roster. Even if they only keep one of Ivey, Simons and Sexton for next season — most likely Ivey — Dillingham would be fourth on the backcourt depth chart with no clear pathway to earning significant playing time. And if they keep more than one, who knows when Dillingham ever gets on the court.
The whole point of taking a shot on a “second draft” guy like Dillingham is to give them the opportunity they haven’t previously received. But given the Bulls’ logjam in the backcourt, it’s hard to see how Dillingham gets that chance.
The Bulls’ roster is going to look a lot different by the start of next season, so we’ll see how everything shakes out, but this is a strange move in light of all their other trades.