Dosunmu, Phillips head to Minnesota as Bulls roster purge continues
Bulls vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas woke up Thursday morning and decided to slice a few more names off the roster.
For their latest move, the Bulls sent Ayo Dosunmu and Julian Phillips to Minnesota for point guard Rob Dillingham, 6-foot-10 forward Leonard Miller and four second-round draft picks.
Dosunmu and Phillips were both second-round picks themselves, so there is some benefit to the Bulls adding nine second-rounders in the past week. At the same time, Dosunmu dropping all the way to the Bulls at the No. 38 overall pick in 2021 was a fortunate event for the franchise. And now the Bulls are giving up the Chicago native for very little in return.
As of Thursday morning, Dosunmu was the 10th-leading scorer among all 2021 draft picks. Phillips, chosen in 35th overall in 2023, never got much of a chance at consistent minutes during his three seasons.
The 6-2 Dillingham was the No. 8 overall pick in 2024 out of Kentucky. The Timberwolves needed a point guard, which is why they traded for Dosunmu, and Dillingham apparently wasn't up to the task. He averaged just 9.3 minutes and 3.5 points in his second NBA season.
Miller played even less, averaging 2.3 points in 19 games for Minnesota this season. He was a second-round pick in 2023 and is the younger brother of former Bulls two-way player Emanuel Miller, who was traded to Cleveland last week.
So here's the scorecard as of 10 a.m. Thursday: In — Jaden Ivey, Anfernee Simons, Collin Sexton, Ousmane Dieng, Guerschon Yabusele, Dillingham, Miller and nine second-round picks.
Out — Nikola Vucevic (Boston), Coby White (Charlotte), Kevin Huerter (Detroit), Dalen Terry (New York), Dosunmu and Phillips (both Minnesota). Mike Conley Jr. and Dario Saric came and went without ever suiting up for the Bulls.
Still on the roster — Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis, Isaac Okoro, Tre Jones, Jalen Smith, Patrick Williams, Zach Collins, and Noa Essengue, plus two-way players Yuki Kawamura and Lachlan Olbrich.
The Bulls signed guard Mac McClung to a two-way deal Thursday. He's averaged 25.4 points for the Windy City Bulls this season.
If you missed it late Wednesday night, the Bulls sent Terry to the Knicks for the 6-7 Yabusele.
What the Bulls will look like for the final 31 games of this season is anyone's guess. They sit in the No. 13 slot for the draft lottery. If they drop in the standings, it probably won't be more than three or four slots, since there are so many unmotivated teams well below them.
Since the post-Jimmy Butler rebuild began on draft night 2017, the Bulls have moved on from draft picks Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr., Daniel Gafford, White, Dosunmu, Terry and Phillips. Only Williams remains from the 2017-23 draft classes.