The Minnesota Timberwolves have acquired guard Ayo Dosunmu from the Chicago Bulls, adding a proven scorer to bolster their depth for the stretch run in the stacked Western Conference playoffs race. The news was first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania and confirmed by an AP source.
The trade had not yet been finalized by the NBA, with the deadline approaching Thursday afternoon. The Timberwolves agreed to send 2024 first-round draft pick Rob Dillingham, deep reserve Leonard Miller and four second-round draft picks to the Bulls for Dosunmu and forward Julian Phillips.
Dosunmu, who was a second-round pick by his hometown Bulls in the 2021 draft, is making about $7.5 million in the final season of his current contract. The 26-year-old is averaging a career-high 15 points per game and shooting a career-best 45.1% from 3-point range. He does become an unrestricted free agent after the season.
His role with the Bulls has fluctuated over five seasons, with 164 starts in 324 games, but he will fill an obvious need for the Timberwolves for more offense off the bench. He's thought of as an up-and-coming guard with high upside, and he'll give the Wolves much-needed backcourt depth and solid defense too.
The Timberwolves, who are 32-20 and entered the day in fifth place in the West, traded revered veteran Mike Conley to the Bulls earlier in the week. Conley was then dealt with guard Coby White to the Charlotte Hornets. If the Hornets were to cut Conley in a contract buyout, he would then be able to re-sign with the Timberwolves.
Dillingham was the eighth pick out of Kentucky prior to last season, but the 21-year-old was slow to develop and had yet to earn the trust of the coaching staff as a true point guard the team has needed in light of Conley's declining production. Dillingham is averaging 3.5 points, 1.7 assists and 9.3 minutes this season, appearing in 35 games.