Ayo Dosunmu has been waiting for this.
It took too long. The nearly seven months between his final game last season and the first preseason outing of the 2025-26 season stretched endlessly over the summer. Scrimmages and pickup sessions with teammates weren’t enough. Dosunmu needed to get back to basketball.
After undergoing shoulder surgery in February, Dosunmu referred to the shoulder recovery process as “exciting” despite its natural tediousness. He found enjoyment in the laborious process of rebuilding his strength and regaining comfort in his shoulder. And despite the length of his overall recovery, he was still back on the court shooting and handling the ball by early July – just over four months after going under.
The anticipation of a summer away from basketball has been clear in Dosunmu over the preseason, where he averaged 16.7 points per game while shooting 44.4% from behind the arc in the first three exhibition outings. For Dosunmu, a strong start to the season is crucial as he tries to establish himself as a difference maker for a Chicago Bulls team in flux – and maybe even a starter.
“I’m confident in my game,” Dosunmu said. “Every given night, it’ll be something different. That’s something I can do – look at how I can impact the game and what the game needs from me.”
For Dosunmu, impacting the game starts on the defensive end.
Dosunmu has been billed as a capable defender since he was drafted by his hometown team in 2021. His athleticism and length create valuable switchability on the perimeter, where he can overwhelm 3-point shooters while also bodying up to larger shooting guards and forwards. But despite showing early signs of defensive savvy, Dosunmu never fully developed into a lockdown stopper in one-on-one scenarios.
“If you look at his defensive metrics, they certainly don’t add up to what he’s capable of in my opinion,” coach Billy Donovan said.
The Bulls need that to change as the entire team turns its attention to the defensive side of the ball. This has been a weak point for the program since the 2022-23 season, only worsening last year after the departure of former defensive stopper Alex Caruso. Donovan hopes to make systemic progress with a new defensive scheme this season. But fundamentally, the Bulls are relying on major individual improvements from young players like Dosunmu and second-year forward Matas Buzelis to shore up their defensive fortitude.
Despite an up-and-down germination period with the Bulls, Donovan has always offered the same praise for Dosunmu: “He’s fearless.”
And in Year 5, Dosunmu is also working to balance that fearlessness with finesse. He’s trying to take fewer chances with the ball. He wants to bounce back to his shooting efficiency from two seasons ago, when he went 40.3% from behind the 3-point arc. And he wants to build dependability as a backup option on the roster.
Throughout the preseason, Donovan was most encouraged when Dosunmu pulled up after driving headfirst toward the basket, using a pivot or an extra dribble to locate a pass back out to the perimeter to sustain the play or hit the open man.
“Two years ago, he would have been up in the air trying to throw it back to half court and it would have been stolen for a run-out layup,” Donovan said with a laugh. “You go downhill enough and make decisions enough, you start to learn what you should and should not do.”
Of course, there’s an extra source of pressure to this season – Dosunmu is once again entering a contract year.
As a second-round pick, Dosunmu originally signed a two-year deal in 2021, then re-signed on a three-year, $21 million deal in 2023. The timing of his second contract means that Dosunmu could hit the unrestricted free agency market next summer at the same time as teammate Coby White, whose looming contract will be a primary focal point for the Bulls front office.
Bulls vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas typically prefers to renegotiate contracts in free agency rather than extend players prematurely – and he hasn’t tipped his hand on his plans for approaching either Dosunmu’s or White’s next deal.
Dosunmu’s performance this season will directly inform how he fits into the team’s plans for the long-term future, but the guard is doing his best to put those if-then scenarios out of his mind.
“My main focus is taking it one day at a time, not worrying about next July, or whatever that is,” Dosunmu said on media day. “(Free agency) is going to happen. The main thing that I have to do is stay in the moment, one day at a time, one event at a time.”
For now, Dosunmu is just relieved to have the ball in his hands again.
It’s unwise, of course, to put too much credence into the outcomes of these exhibition games. Plenty of players have ripped off miraculous preseason runs only to recede into the rotations of their respective teams once actual seasons began. But this stretch of preseason play has shown that Dosunmu is ready to get back to being himself on the court.
“When you have something you love taken away from you, it makes your mind stronger and (makes) you appreciate it more,” Dosunmu said. “I’m more appreciative of the game. It’s something that gives me an edge.”