Another Lonzo Ball Knee Surgery Gives Ayo Dosunmu Bigger Opportunity To Make Leap

The Chicago Bulls were thrilled when hometown product Ayo Dosunmu fell to them at No. 38 in the 2021 NBA Draft, but fan expectations weren’t all that high for the former Illinois star heading into his rookie season. Thanks to long-term injuries to Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, Dosunmu was thrust into a major role and handled it with aplomb. Now with Ball set to miss more time to start the 2022-23 season, one silver lining is Dosunmu is again in position to take advantage.

The Bulls announced Wednesday that Ball will go under the knife next week in an attempt to fix the nagging knee problem that has been plaguing him since last season, when he underwent surgery for a torn meniscus in January. The upcoming procedure will be an arthroscopic debridement and will keep Ball out at least the next four to six weeks until reevaluation. Of course, that doesn’t mean Ball will be ready to play after that timetable, so who knows when he’ll actually be back on the court.

Chicago really missed Ball’s presence last season because he brings so much to the table on both ends of the floor. There’s truly nobody else on the roster who can do everything he does, making them a clearly worse team without him. He’s their glue guy.

However, Dosunmu is part of a deep Bulls backcourt that will do its best to mitigate Ball’s continued absence. Billy Donovan will have a decision to make when it comes to Ball’s replacement in the starting lineup. Dosunmu started 40 of the 77 games he played last season and built a nice rapport with Nikola Vucevic in the starting lineup. Caruso isn’t really a point guard but is one of the Bulls’ best players, so there’s a clear argument for him. Goran Dragic could also get the nod if Donovan wants to go with a veteran option with way more experience. Coby White has started games at point guard in his career as well, but that experiment was a failure and he’s better as a microwave scorer off the bench.

Whether Dosunmu gets the call to start at point guard or not, he will get plenty of minutes either way and should be prioritized over an aging player like Dragic. The 22-year-old brings more versatility and two-way potential to the floor, and the Bulls must do all they can to help develop his game.

As a rookie, Dosunmu averaged 8.8 points, 3.3 assists, 2.4 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 1.4 turnovers in 27.4 minutes per game while shooting 52.0% overall and 37.6% from 3-point range. One key next step should be getting his shooting volume up. It was understandable for him to take more of a backseat as a rookie, but he was a killer at Illinois and shouldn’t be afraid to look for his shot more often. That’s especially true when he’s open beyond the arc, because the Bulls can’t afford record scratches when there are open looks. The lack of 3-point shooting on the roster, especially with Ball out, is begging for Dosunmu to become a more prolific 3-point option. If he does pass up 3-point shots, he needs to be aggressive attacking the rim instead of being hesitant, because he was an effective scorer on drives last season.

Defensively, Dosunmu showed a lot of promise as a ferocious perimeter defender who can disrupt the point of attack (just ask Trae Young). He still has a lot to learn when it comes to team defense, but he has that dog in him on defense and can help make up for Ball’s absence in that area.

The young guard has been seen putting in a lot of work this offseason, which should help him hold up better over the course of a long NBA season. He clearly wore down and lost some of his effectiveness by the end of his rookie campaign, so hopefully that won’t be as much of a problem moving forward in his NBA career.

This season will be even more notable for Dosunmu because he’s set to be a free agent next offseason. He only signed a two-year contract with the Bulls after going 38th and will make just over $1.5 million in 2022-23. A big season will mean a nice payday for the young guard, which Chicago should be willing to pay.

So, while this Lonzo Ball news is truly a bummer, the hope is it helps usher in a leap for Ayo Dosunmu. The Bulls could certainly use it as they try to keep up in the stacked Eastern Conference.