{"id":452937,"date":"2026-02-06T18:12:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/452937\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T18:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:12:07","slug":"ayo-dosunmu-trade-gives-timberwolves-backcourt-bench-depth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/452937\/","title":{"rendered":"Ayo Dosunmu trade gives Timberwolves backcourt bench depth"},"content":{"rendered":"

For those who immerse themselves in the hullabaloo of rumors, revelries and recriminations that ring around the circus of the NBA trading deadline<\/a>, the Minnesota Timberwolves delivered their fair share of glitz and suspense and even provided a morsel of nutritious nourishment near the end of proceedings Thursday afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The few insiders with legitimate access reported that the Wolves ultimately unsuccessful pursuit of Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was prolonged and serious. It likely fell through because the market for Giannis will be strengthened and clarified when the 2025-26 season is over this summer. By then, Giannis will be healthier and prospective bidders will have had a postseason to judge their current resources on hand and how that alters the risks and rewards of getting in the chase.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This very much includes the Timberwolves. The rest of the regular season and postseason will be a referendum on how far their considerable core of talent<\/a> can take them and who becomes more or less expendable. It adds to the already fascinating plot of the team\u2019s trajectory, with the emphasis back on the game itself rather than searching for a needle of knowledge in a haystack of clickbait.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On that note, let\u2019s get to the things that were actually accomplished over the past couple of days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first concrete maneuver by the Wolves was getting involved in a trade between the Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons by sending Mike Conley to the Bulls and executing a draft pick swap for the Pistons, which at the moment would mean Minnesota would draft in Detroit\u2019s 29th slot this summer while the Pistons moved up to the Wolves\u2019 23rd slot. This was all done for \u201ccash considerations,\u201d specifically so that Minnesota could get below the \u201cfirst apron\u201d of the salary cap and thus be able to make trades that took back more salary than they gave out.<\/p>\n

Related: The Wolves\u2019 young bench core is a bust. What now?<\/a><\/p>\n

In other words, it gave them flexibility, which for a while was regarded as room to strike a deal for Giannis. But it also applied to any trade scenario and possibly came in handy when they again tapped the Bulls for a less heralded swap that has targeted significance by addressing their most apparent roster vulnerability \u2014 their need for more productive and reliable backcourt play off the bench<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right, the biggest tangible change arising out of the trade deadline is the acquisition of Ayo Dosunmu, a 6\u20194\u201d, 200-pound combo guard in his fifth year out of Illinois. The Wolves also received 6\u20196\u201d forward Julian Phillips off the Bulls\u2019 bench, who at age 22 is more raw athlete than proven performer. In return, they shipped their 2024 lottery pick Rob Dillingham and 2023 second-round forward Leonard Miller to Chicago along with a passel of second-round draft picks, four in all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The principals in the deal are Ayo and Dillingham. Dosunmu checks a lot of the boxes that comprise what the Wolves need from a player off the bench. He\u2019s an active and aggressive defender large and mobile enough to guard either backcourt position, or even opposing wings. He has a nose for the basket \u2014 over 40% of his shot attempts this season have come from within three feet of the rim \u2014 and yet has vastly improved his three-point shooting, making 45.1% thus far this season, eighth best in the NBA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t seem sustainable \u2014 he had one previous year in 2023-24 shooting 40.3% from deep, with three others considerably below that \u2014 but his marksmanship this season is coming on a career-high 4.3 trey attempts per game, so who knows. It should also be said that advanced analytics do not agree with the eye test on his sturdy, resilient approach to defense, putting him in the bottom fifth percentile in defensive box plus-minus last year. But those who believe what they see \u2014 like me \u2014 write that off to the difficulty of properly measuring defensive value and the fact that Chicago deployed one of the slowest and least effective centers in drop coverage, Nikola Vucevich, during Dosunmu\u2019s time there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With Dosunmu on the roster, Wolves head coach Chris Finch now has the option of turning to Bones Hyland, who excels at pushing the pace and is more of passing point guard (although Ayo\u2019s assist totals aren\u2019t shabby \u2014 3.2, 4.5 and now 3.6 per game since 2023-24), or to Dosunmu, who is a clearly superior defender both on-ball and in a team concept, with an offensive skill set that isn\u2019t shabby either, particularly this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To put a succinct, positive spin on it, Dosunmu projects to be a poor man\u2019s Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who was the Wolves invaluable seventh man the previous two seasons before departing to Atlanta in the off-season on a more lucrative deal that has nevertheless been a bargain for the Hawks thus far. Ironically, it is possible, but as of now not certain, that the Wolves might have been able to use a $7.5 million trade exception they salvaged out of NAW\u2019s departure (via a sign-and-trade) to leverage Ayo\u2019s current salary (just a few hundred-thousand dollars less) in the final year of his contract, thus not affecting the salary cap. And having Dosunmu already on the roster when that contract expires will provide the Wolves with more flexibility to negotiate a new deal, which most insiders expect will happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related: A heartfelt goodbye to Mike Conley, who changed the culture of the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a><\/p>\n

Getting Dosunmu is exactly the kind of minor tweak I was hoping for when all this trade speculation started. He gives Finch more options for rotation matchups, and likely will take minutes away from Jaylen Clark, who has steadily fallen out of favor, and from Bones when Finch needs better two-way performance instead of a fast-paced spark from the subs.<\/p>\n

To put a bow on this happy ending, the Timberwolves are also widely reported to get Mike Conley back. Because the Bulls immediately traded him again, this time to Charlotte, who promptly waived him, he becomes a candidate on the \u201cbuyout market,\u201d a scenario that may have already been orchestrated before Mike was traded to Chicago in the first place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are specific, limited situations where Conley can be helpful on the court \u2014 especially when the team is imploding and require a composed, steadying floor general. But his impact in the locker room, not to mention erasing the negative karma of ending his Wolves tenure via a salary dump, is probably more valuable at this point.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yep, my paean\/eulogy for Conley\u2019s time with the Timberwolves<\/a> turned out to be premature. But the words and sentiments still stand and I will not be surprised if there is a random game in the season or playoffs where Mike chips in at just the right moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That said, the news from the trading deadline is not about Conley, or Giannis. It is about Wolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly admitting and rectifying a draft mistake, Dillingham, and providing his coach with a better and more preferential option in Ayo Dosunmu. The Timberwolves are a better team than they were 48 hours ago. Are they good enough to challenge for a spot in the NBA Finals? The answer will likely determine how many rumors we hear this summer about Giannis belatedly coming to Minnesota.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For those who immerse themselves in the hullabaloo of rumors, revelries and recriminations that ring around the circus…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,3,99],"class_list":["post-452937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}