The Chicago Bulls have dismantled their playoff team from a few years ago step by step. Most of the core players are now gone, with Lonzo Ball being the latest. He was shipped to Cleveland in exchange for Isaac Okoro. Overall, the belief is that three names remain possible candidates to get moved: Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, and Ayo Dosunmu. Vucevic has been available for quite some time. The market hasn’t developed. White has value, but his contract situation is complicated. K.C. Johnson said the player getting the most buzz from what he’s heard is Dosunmu.
Now we’ve learned at least one of the teams poking around. According to Anthony Irwin of Clutch Points, the Los Angeles Lakers are looking for desperately needed bench help. They believe Dosunmu fits that goal perfectly as one of the better reserve point guards in the league.
Previous trade targets include Andrew Wiggins and Robert Williams, among others, and a couple new names have garnered some attention given how the rest of the offseason has played out to this point. Sources say Matisse Thybulle, Marcus Smart (though most teams are watching to see if he’s going to be bought out), Ayo Dosunmu and others are names the Lakers have had preliminary conversations with teams about availability and price, though no offers have been made.
The Bulls have already been in dialogue with L.A. this offseason, working on the trade that saw them swap the 45th pick for the 55th and cash considerations. Perhaps they’ve been going back and forth on Dosunmu for a while.
Ayo Dosunmu should be able to fetch a decent return for Chicago.
Arturas Karnisovas prefers bringing back a solid player in any deal he makes, at least lately. One name that might fit with this approach is Dalton Kincaid. Due to the Lakers’ logjam at small forward, the former 17th overall pick only got 19 minutes per game last year. That didn’t stop him from being productive when given opportunities. He averaged 17 points and seven rebounds per 36 minutes and was 37.6% from beyond the arc. He and maybe a couple of picks would be enough to secure Ayo Dosunmu. Chicago would be even deeper at forward, allowing them to finally end the Patrick Williams experiment.
Matas Buzelis can move to power forward while Okoro and Kincaid handle small forward. Much depends on whether the Lakers really want him or are just looking for cheap solutions.
