The Minnesota Timberwolves have now played seven games with Ayo Dosunmu since acquiring him from the Chicago Bulls. The team is 5-2 in that time despite not always playing their best basketball. The overall numbers haven’t shown it yet, but the impact is clear. The ceiling is a touch higher with Dosumnu on board.
If acquiring a point guard was 1A on the wishlist of fans as the trade deadline approached, improving the bench outside of Naz Reid was 1B. Trading for Dosunmu helped deal with both team issues.
Dosunmu is giving the Wolves some quality bench production
While more of a combo guard, the 26-year-old has often been utilized at the point for Minnesota thus far. He has taken great care of the ball with only four turnovers in a Timberwolves uniform while playing 186 minutes.
Now, the on/off splits for Dosunmu aren’t pretty. It’s a small sample size, though, and much of it comes from two appearances. The team was a minus-58 with Dosumnu playing in their two losses, with him against the Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers. They are a plus-19 in the other five outings.
The numbers aren’t huge so far, but Ayo is consistently scoring in double figures (done so in five of seven contests). He is averaging 11.4 points while shooting just shy of 50 percent from the field. That just isn’t happening for a bench piece on Minnesota other than Naz Reid and occasionally Bones Hyland (although Bones is in the midst of a scoring slump).
Now in his fifth season, Dosunmu puts constant pressure on opposing defenses by pushing the pace and looking for transition baskets. That has been his calling card through his career, and he has a career 67.2 percent shooting mark at the rim.
Dosunmu was the perfect low-cost addition
Chris Finch already trusts playing Ayo large minutes, as he is averaging 26.6 mpg thus far. He’s the best defender off the bench in the rotation (something that Jaylen Clark is no longer in). You can certainly see his minutes remaining around that mark once the playoffs start.
For now, Dosunmu and Reid are the certainties to play big playoff minutes off the bench, and perhaps Kyle Anderson can play well enough to join those two after he clears waivers and becomes a Timberwolf.
No, it wasn’t the blockbuster (Giannis) trade that some fans wanted. But give Tim Connelly credit for acquiring such an impactful player without giving up a first-round pick or a player who was actually playing for the Timberwolves.