The Chicago Bulls are off to a 6-1 start this season after their big offseason moves. While some of their success is thanks to excellent play from stars Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, the Bulls are also getting key help from unexpected sources.

One of the recent heroes was rookie Ayo Dosunmu, who scored a career-high 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting in the historic comeback win over the Boston Celtics. The No. 38 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft out of Illinois, Dosunmu has played his way into Billy Donovan's rotation after initial expectations suggested he wouldn't play too much this season unless there were a lot of injuries.

While certainly not on the level of the top rookies, Ayo's early impact has been a shocking surprise for Chicago. His play has also been key when it comes to another big surprise for the Bulls so far: an elite defense.

*Watch NBA games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)*

Bulls skeptics cited a potentially terrible defensive unit as a reason why the team wouldn't be any good this season. However, with newcomers like Dosunmu, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, among others, helping out, Chicago currently has a top-10 defense.

On the latest episode of Blue Wire's Cash Considerations, I discussed these early surprises for the Bulls:

“It has been awesome to see him be arguably the most pleasant surprise on this Bulls team. I guess the defense being so good has been also a huge surprise. But Ayo, I had no expectations for Ayo this season. The fact that we're seven games in right now and it seems like he has passed Troy Brown Jr. in the rotation. … As long as he keeps playing hard, keeps playing like that, he's going to get those minutes. … I really hope Ayo does stick in this rotation.”

Listen to the full episode of Cash Considerations here:

Cash Considerations: A Chicago Bulls Podcast is part of the Blue Wire Podcast Network. The pod can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts.