Chicago Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu will miss the rest of the 2024-25 NBA season. The 25-year-old is set to undergo shoulder surgery to address an instability issue that’s cost him game time over the last few weeks.

Bulls Head Coach Billy Donovan called the surgery “inevitable,” so the decision was made for Dosunmu to get the procedure now to give him more time for recovery and a potentially full offseason.

Chicago already traded Zach LaVine and continues to manage Lonzo Ball’s minutes. The team is also still without starting big men Patrick Williams and Nikola Vucevic, who are dealing with knee and calf injuries, respectively. Dosunmu’s absence will only add to Donovan’s rotational headache.

But there’s good news and bad news to every story. Here’s how the Bulls losing their sixth man (and occasional starter) will affect the final five weeks of the regular season.

Ayo Dosunmu’s injury will have a domino effect on Bulls rotation

LaVine was shipped off to the Sacramento Kings shortly before this year’s trade deadline. That, theoretically, should’ve opened up more playing time for young guards like Dosunmu, Coby White and Josh Giddey.

However, the Bulls took back two guards in that deal in Tre Jones and Kevin Huerter. Jones is a free agent at the end of this season and Huerter is having the worst year of his career. Surely, two veteran guards wouldn’t infringe on the development of players who could be key pieces of the franchise’s future…right?

Chicago being Chicago, however, Huerter is playing nearly 25 minutes per game and Jones 17.3. Perhaps taking Dosunmu out of the equation will force Donovan to go deeper into his bench and give a few younger players some additional minutes.

Admittedly, though, it’s a blow for Dosunmu to lose growing time himself. He’s on one of the most team-friendly contracts in the league, but he’ll be an unrestricted free agent after next season. The Bulls need to determine whether he’s worth the lucrative deal he has coming.

Third-year guard Dalen Terry started for Dosunmu in Chicago’s March 2 game against the Indiana Pacers. He played 19 minutes and only scored two points on 1-of-5 shooting, but the fact that the Bulls went with Terry as the fifth starter rather than Jones (Ball and Huerter were both inactive) shows that Donovan is somewhat ready to incorporate younger, rawer players.

Terry is only 22 and has intriguing potential. He’s 6-foot-7 and can play either guard position or on the wing. He was the Wildcats’ starting point guard in his lone season at Arizona.

That length, ballhandling and versatility on both ends of the floor can replicate some of what Dosunmu provided Chicago.

Giddey and White are already playing significant minutes with significant offensive roles, but they should get even more slack to run the offense and let fly. Huerter and Jones will no doubt get more playing time as the Bulls, confusingly, continue to fight for another Play-In Tournament berth.

No single member of Chicago’s guard rotation can recreate Dosunmu’s defensive activity and downhill aggression. Per Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic, 59 percent of the Illinois product’s scoring came from within five feet, and Dosunmu was converting on 66 percent of his shots from that range.

This should mean a major bump in minutes for Terry and complete offensive freedom for Giddey and White. It could include some of that, but it likely will come with additional minutes for Jones, Huerter and potentially Jevon Carter—three players who are known commodities, won’t be key parts of the franchise’s future and don’t need to help the Bulls win anymore games.