MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves have acquired guard Ayo Dosunmu from the Chicago Bulls, adding a proven scorer to bolster their depth for the stretch run in the stacked Western Conference playoffs race, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the trade had not yet been finalized by the NBA, with the deadline approaching in the afternoon. The Timberwolves agreed to send 2024 first-round draft pick Rob Dillingham, deep reserve Leonard Miller and four second-round draft picks to the Bulls for Dosunmu and forward Julian Phillips.
Dosunmu, who was a second-round pick by his hometown Bulls in the 2021 draft, is making about $7.5 million in the final season of his current contract. The 26-year-old is averaging a career-high 15 points per game and shooting a career-best 45.1% from 3-point range. His role with the Bulls has fluctuated over five seasons, with 164 starts in 324 games, but he will fill an obvious need for the Timberwolves for more offense off the bench.
The Timberwolves, who are 32-20 and entered the day in fifth place in the West, traded revered veteran Mike Conley to the Bulls earlier in the week. Conley was then dealt with guard Coby White to the Charlotte Hornets. If the Hornets were to cut Conley in a contract buyout, he would then be able to re-sign with the Timberwolves.
Dillingham was the eighth pick out of Kentucky prior to last season, but the 21-year-old was slow to develop and had yet to earn the trust of the coaching staff as a true point guard the team has needed in light of Conley's declining production. Dillingham is averaging 3.5 points, 1.7 assists and 9.3 minutes this season, appearing in 35 games.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.