One month has now passed in the NBA’s summer transaction market, and yet the Chicago Bulls are still in just as much of a quagmire as they were before.
The Josh Giddey situation remains unresolved, with the two parties still insurmountably far apart on negotiations for a new contract. The Nikola Vucevic situation remains unresolved; despite the logic behind discussing a buyout, the reports are that the Bulls will not do so, and will hope to be successful in trading him in a way they have not been for over a year now. The Patrick Williams situation remains unresolvable, because his contract is simply too large to move. And they are not currently in the running for Jonathan Kuminga, despite the best efforts of the commentariat.
It also now appears that the Bulls have struck out on being able to make other moves. Specifically, noted Bulls inside K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network reports that the Bulls were trying to engage either teams in talks for three-year veteran guard Ayo Dosunmu – but were unable to close any deal.
Why Dosunmu Was Even Available
In his report, Johnson did not name specific teams with whom Dosunmu was discussed, and alludes only to “a Western Conference playoff team” as having the most substantive discussions. (One of eight, then.) Yet it might come as a bit of a surprise that Dosunmu would ever have been considered available when considering that he is supposed to represent what the Bulls value the most.
With his 2024-25 season averages of 12.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.3 three-pointers per game. Dosunmu is a good NBA player. And the Bulls, famously – or infamously – are steadfast in their team-building philosophy of acquiring “nine or ten very good players”, as opposed to the more conventional three-star model.
Dosunmu might not qualify for the “very” in that statement, but he is certainly good. He is also cheap (heading into the final year of his three-year, $21 million contract that he signed in the summer of 2023), multi-positional and a skilled passer, precisely the qualities sought in a team that seeks players of that type such as Giddey, Vucevic and Zach Collins.
The Bulls like passers, and the Bulls like saving money. It is unclear, then, why the Bulls would want to trade Dosunmu the good and cheap passer, and why any other team would not be receptive to the idea.
What Happens Next
Nevertheless, if what Johnson says holds true, Dosunmu will be back with the Bulls for the start of next season. The question then becomes what happens after that.
An extension is possible. With the newest NBA Collective Bargaing Agreement, teams have the ability to start the first season of extended contracts at 140% of the value of the Estimated Average Player Salary for the year in which the extension is signed.
The Estimated Average Player Salary for any future season is equal to 104.5% of the Average Player Salary for the previous season. Although the exact figure is not published to mere outsiders (the NBA used to include its value in their pre-moratorium salary cap memo, but have no longer done so since 2023), the Average Player Salary for the 2025-26 season is thought to be a shade under $14 million.
Using that $14 million figure as a close-enough-for-what-we-are-doing-here starting point, the Bulls can therefore offer to extend Dosunmu to a contract starting in 2025-26 at $19,600,000, a 140% increase on that $14 million figure amount. That would, in all likelihood, be more than enough.
That said, any team acquiring Dosunmu in trade can offer the same thing. When players are traded, their Bird rights – and, if applicable, extension eligibility – are almost always traded with them. Dosunmu can sign an extension with whichever team he is on, as long as he is not waived off of this current contract before its expiration, which is not something that will happen.
If he declines an extension and lets his contract run down instead, Dosunmu will at least enjoy the luxury of something Giddey does not – unrestricted free agency. The Bulls had that leverage with Dosunmu in 2023, and used it to get themselves a bargain. But that will not happen again.
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