Giddey Extension Means A Versatile Young Guard Could Now Be Available

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📝 usncan Note: Giddey Extension Means A Versatile Young Guard Could Now Be Available

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On Monday, the Chicago Bulls made headlines by ending their stalemate with Josh Giddey and re-signing the soon-to-be 23-year-old to a four-year, $100 million deal.

While we can quibble about the exact dollar amount (I, for one, think it was a fair price, especially after seeing how much Immanuel Quickley signed for), Giddey is now embedded in this core for the foreseeable future.

This move puts the Bulls in a curious situation. Along with Giddey, Chicago also rosters Tre Jones, Jevon Carter, Ayo Dosunmu, and Coby White in their guard room. Dosunmu and White are particularly interesting because they are both still under 26 and entering the final year of their respective contracts.

Do the Bulls plan on re-upping with both of those players? Or will they try to offload one of them to add ammunition elsewhere?

The latter option is particularly tantalizing because both guards offer valuable skills that could help a playoff hopeful be even more formidable in 2025-26.

Ayo Dosunmu And Coby White Are Interesting Names To Watch On The Trade Block

The title of this article is a bit of a misnomer, as it implies that there is only one specific player to focus on. However, in theory, either one of these guys could be available as Chicago may be looking to shore up their guard room and usher in the next era of Bulls basketball.

Given his strides on the offensive end of the floor (last season, he had career highs in scoring volume and efficiency), White seems like the one the Bulls would be least likely to part ways with. Plus, his blend of on-ball and off-ball scoring makes him a perfect long-term partner for Giddey – someone who prefers the ball to be in his control.

Of course, that doesn’t mean White wouldn’t generate interest on the open market. A team like the Dallas Mavericks – who has a surplus of defensive-first players and a shortage of offense creators – would probably love to bring someone like White on board.

However, in reality, it seems far more plausible that the Bulls would look to move Dosunmu. And if they do, a handful of teams would be wise to petition for his services as well.

Dosunmu isn’t the scorer that White is, but he doesn’t need to be because he can impact winning in so many different ways.

For instance, as a career 36.1% 3-point shooter (40.3% in 2023-24), Dosunmu is a credible spacer. His experience as a lead guard in college also gives him the kind of off-the-dribble juice you need to attack closeouts. Last season, he was one of just 71 players to play at least 40 games and average at least eight drives per game (per NBA.com). And of those 71 players, Dosunmu placed fifth in field goal percentage on those drives.

By the way, the list of names he shares the top ten with are no joke…

Dosunmu may soon have to come off his parents’ insurance, but he hasn’t lost his youthful vigor. He loves to play with pace and push the ball down opposing teams’ throats. In every single season of his career, the Bulls have had a higher transition frequency when Dosunmu is on the court compared to when he’s on the bench. In 2023-24, the 1.8% increase that the Bulls experienced in Dosunmu’s minutes placed in the 88th percentile leaguewide (per Cleaning the Glass).

Dosunmu’s defensive metrics don’t pop off the screen, but that’s mainly because he doesn’t generate an insane amount of steals and plays for a Bulls team that has been in the bottom half of the league in defensive rating in three of his four seasons with them. But don’t let that fool you, he can be a positive contributor to a strong defensive team.

At 6’4 with a 6’8 wingspan, Dosunmu has the length and quickness to take on tough defensive assignments. Last season, Dosunmu finished in the 96th percentile in BBall Index’s Matchup Difficulty metric.

Ayo Dosunmu 2024-25 Player Card.

BBall Index.

He also had some success against these high-level perimeter players. Last year, in four combined games against them, Dosunmu held Trae Young and Stephen Curry to a combined 7-for-20 (35%) from the floor.

On paper, Dosunmu is a versatile complementary guard. Think about some other players in that archetype that helped recent title winners reach the Promised Land (Derrick White, Cason Wallace, Bruce Brown). Dosunmu may not be as good as those guys, but then again, we didn’t think that way about them until they landed on those championship teams.

Dosunmu’s potential to be a key rotational piece for a playoff team makes him a key name to monitor over the next few months. Teams like the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Denver Nuggets (among others) should consider throwing offers at the Bulls. And since Dosunmu is only making 7.5 million next season, it wouldn’t take much to come up with the requisite matching salary.

The Bulls may have closed the book on the Giddey debacle, but putting an end to that chapter, they have simultaneously opened the door to a whole new web of questions.