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The Chicago Bulls are in the middle of their preparation for the 2024-25 NBA season. They are looking to take a step forward in the coming season after missing the playoffs and finishing below .500 with a 39-43 record in the last campaign.
If the Bulls are to make a big improvement, Ayo Dosunmu will have to be among the key contributors. However, it seems like Dosunmu's status, at least for the Bulls' next preseason game is in jeopardy after he suffered an upper-body injury during Saturday night's game against the Memphis Grizzlies at United Center.
“Injury Update: Ayo Dosunmu (left shoulder) is out for the remainder of tonight's game,” Chicago announced on X (formerly Twitter).
Before he left the Grizzlies game, the former Illinois Fighting Illini star guard produced seven points on 2-for-4 shooting from the floor, grabbed two rebounds, and had a steal in 14 minutes of action on the floor. He was a plus-1 at the time of his departure from the contest but also had three turnovers. Dosunmu started against the Grizzlies in lieu of Coby White, who sat out the game with a groin issue, per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network.
Dosunmu, who inked a three-year contract worth $21 million with Chicago in the summer of 2023, is coming off his best season so far in his young NBA career. The 24-year-old Dosunmu averaged 12.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists through 76 games (incluiding 37 starts) for the Bulls in the 2023-24 campaign while also shooting 50.1 percent from the floor and registering a 40.3 percent success rate from behind the arc on 3.9 3-point attempts per outing.
Bulls have to sort out a packed backcourt
The Bulls have a crowded backcourt that, apart from Dosunmu and White, features the likes of Zach LaVine, Lonzo Ball, and newcomer Josh Giddey, who was acquired by Chicago in the offseason via a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Alex Caruso. The onus is on Bulls head coach Billy Donovan to find the right balance in deploying and distributing the minutes to the team's backcourt weapons.
Chicago, which lost to the Grizzlies, 124-121, has three more games left to play in the preseason. Up next for the Bulls is a date with the Milwaukee Bucks on the road this Monday. The Bulls will finish their preseason assignments with matchups versus the Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday and Friday — both at home — respectively.
The Bulls will then kick off their 2024-25 schedule on Oct. 23 against the New Orleans Pelicans on the road.
